Washington D.C. 10/28/2015- D.C. United forward Fabian Espindola, seen here being guarded against by New England Revolution defender Kevin Alston, provided the assist for the game-winning goal on Wednesday night (photo credit: Jennifer Jordan-Harrell photography)
Eastern Conference rivals will rekindle an old rivalry on Saturday when the New England Revolution host D.C. United. The match will be played at 330pm EST and will be shown live of NewsChannel 8 in Washington D.C. and Comcast SportsNet in the New England area.
After Sunday’s 4-1 loss against L.A. Galaxy, D.C. United will need to show more of the energy and interaction that they had in the first half of that game. Midfielder Luciano Acosta and Lamar Neagle provided the spark for D.C. in last week’s match and will look to do the same against their Eastern Conference rivals.
This Saturday’s match will be an exciting match as it is the first match between both teams after United pulled out a 2-1 win in the Eastern Conference knockout round last October. A Chris Rolfe’s goal in the 83rd minute proved to be the difference in a match that was extremely close.
New England had a real season opener against Houston Dynamic with a 3-3 draw, with Daigo Kobayashi scoring seconds before the end of the match. New England last season led the league
Now, D.C.United is another thing; they come to the game with 2 injuries. Midfielder Patrick Nyarko was not at practice on Wednesday and is very questionable for this next game after having sustained a concussion in last week’s match.
The Revolution feature one of the most potent offenses in the league with midfielder Lee Nguyen leading the charge. Nguyen likes to press opponents at the center pitch and open opportunities for forwards Charlie Davies and Teal Bunbury. United will be without starting center-back Steve Birnbaum, who like Nyarko sustained a concussion during last week’s match. Kofi Opare (17 starts in 2015) will likely take his spot in the starting eleven.
United will also be without forward Fabian Espindola who did not play last Sunday after receiving a hamstring injury against Queretaro in the CONCACAF Champions League. Without Espindola last season United had a record of 6-7-4. Losing Espindola was part of the reason why D.C. were unable to advance in the CONCACAF Champions League as their attack is built around him.
