Photo/Kari Heistad
The New England Revolution have been competitive in most of their games, but have lacked the finishing touch and dominant character necessary to put away results.
The Revolution (1-2-6, 9 points) will look to change that on Saturday evening when they host Orlando City SC at Gillette Stadium.
Both teams enter the match tied on points, though Orlando has done a slightly better job when it comes scoring goals.
The Revolution have yet to take a two-goal lead this season, have only scored six times since their season opening 3-3 tie with Houston on March 9, and are averaging 1.56 goals against.
Orlando, meanwhile, have scored in all but one of their eight games this season and have 13 goals, the highest in the Eastern Conference.
Tactically, the Revs will need to make a few changes, as three of their top attacking players: Charlie Davies (abductor), Chris Tierney (hamstring), and Teal Bunbury (hamstring) are all out for Saturday’s match.
Bunbury adds speed to the attack while Davies provides a target, and missing Tierney means being without the best left-footed crosser in the league.
Juan Agudelo could slot in for Davies, his partnership with Diego Fagundez one of the best-established on the Revs; Fagundez has also drifted wide left to occupy Tierney’s spot, but has to switch to his right foot to cross.
To combat that, Donnie Smith, who was voted the man of the match in Wednesday night’s 1-1 tie with Portland, will likely make his second consecutive start and fill in for Tierney.
Here are some additional notes on Saturday’s match:
- Orlando aren’t coming into Foxborough at full strength, either. Kaka – the former FIFA World Footballer of the Year – is out with a groin injury. That said, it is highly unlikely that he’d play much, if at all, as opposing teams tend to be weary of putting their stars on Gillette Stadium’s artificial turf.
The likes of Thierry Henry, David Beckham, and Didier Drogba have all spent little to no time playing in Foxborough thanks to the field.
- After a bright start to the season (two goals, two assists in the first month of the season) Diego Fagundez seems to have cooled off. He is currently the Revolution’s leading scorer, but has yet to show up as much of a poacher, a la Taylor Twellman. With so many injuries, the door is open for the Uruguayan to take the lead.
- Donnie Smith has stuck around in earnest with the Revolution and patience is finally paying off. That said, it would be nice to see coach Jay Heaps and the Revolution rotate players such as Smith more often. How is it that the player currently backing up Chris Tierney has been in the league for over three years but hadn’t started a home game since Wednesday?
Smith may be a good potential, but they burned three years on him by giving him virtually no game experience. He’s not as pacey as Tierney or nearly as good of a crosser. But, maybe with more playing time he could have developed an extra skill or two by now?
- That contrasts drastically with Femi Hollinger-Janzen. The rookie is red hot to start the season and will only continue to earn playng time, as he’s established himself as a true game-changer.
- Back to Orlando: they have one win on the road, at miserable NYCFC. What’s more impressive though is that they have yet to be shutout on the road. They’ve scored four times away from the Citrus Bowl, which is more than the Revolution have scored this season at Gillette Stadium. Gulp.
If you want to reach Julian follow him on Twitter @juliancardillo
New England Revolution
Orlando City
