Photo Credit: Kari Heistad
New York City FC versus New England Revolution
March 24, 3:30 PM EST, MLS Live
New York City FC sit atop MLS with nine points and will hope to continue their winning ways when they travel to New England this weekend to face the one and one Revolution. The match up will take place over the international break and will be a chance for both teams to show off their depth and quality.
NYCFC are without the services of Alex Ring, Ronald Matarita, and Rodney Wallace, with all three playing for their respective national teams. They may also be without the services of their captain and chief goal scorer, David Villa. Villa was a game time scratch last weekend and has yet to practice fully this week. If he is not able to suit up then the depth of the team will be tested indeed. In Villa’s absence last week Ismael Tajouri filled in nicely scoring the team’s opening goal against Orlando and showing off his pace and technical ability on the ball. With Wallace out as well and Tajouri filling in for Villa that leaves the door open for Jonathan Lewis or Tommy McNamara to slot into the wing position. It will be interesting to see who Patrick Vieira slots into the roster. All the players he brought in during the off season have the ability to succeed in the way the team plays.
Who will be the goal scorer for them? Who will be the enforcer with Ring away? Ebenezer Ofori will likely get the start for Ring and has the ability to thrive in the role. It is just a question of if he has spent enough time with the team to gain the chemistry and understanding of the players around him. Jesus Media has played lights out in his first three games with the club and should be another prominent player in the attack. Who will take over for Villa if he is absent? Will it be Tajouri again or perhaps fans will finally get a chance to see Jo Inge Berget if he has recovered from the flu.
The Revolution are missing just Krizstian Nemeth but still have several questions to answer in their new high press system. Brad Friedel has made changes and the team will need to play up to their full potential to beat a read hot NYCFC. New England will also need to make it through a match without getting a player sent off. The team has played two games and has two red cards on the books. Matt Turner has taken over for Cody Cropper in the goal and done a nice job so far. He will be tested against NYCFC who have scored six goals in three games and have six different players on the score sheet.
The biggest saga for the Revolution is the hold out of Lee Nguyen who has not played a minute in the preseason or regular season for the Revs. Their most creative player on the roster likely won’t see any minutes this weekend as well. New England have the quality but will it all get with out Nguyen?
All in all, it should be a very fun game with both teams pressing high and looking to score early. Juan Agudelo has the quality to put in a goal for New England but, even with all the players out, NYCFC should come away with some points on Saturday. Their barbed attack should be able to exploit a shaky Revolution backline. A score of two to one is a likely result in frigid but high paced game at Gillette Stadium.
NYCFC
MLS
