Revolution vs Rapids Preview by Chris Brown.
Colorado Rapids travel to Gillette Stadium to take on New England with both sides missing players due to the international break.
With Kei Kamara and Teal Bunbury out, Juan Agudelo has a chance to impress. (Photo Credit: Kari Heistad)
The Revolution are without Kei Kamara and Je-Vaughn Watson who are serving their international teams while Colorado are without Tim Howard, Shkelzen Gashi, Marco Pappa and Mekeil Williams.
Those four absences for Colorado, due to international duty combined with injuries to Jermaine Jones and Marlon Hairston, means Pablo Mastroeni will have a selection nightmare on Saturday.
The core of Colorado’s formidable defense is intact, but it’s difficult to see where an attacking spark may come from for the Rapids. In the past, playing Dillon Powers in the number ten role hasn’t provided any real creativity, but Colorado may be forced to play that way because of all the absences.
For Jay Heaps side there are also key players missing with injury as Xavier Kouassi is out with a knee injury while Teal Bunbury and Jordan McCrary are listed as questionable.
Bunbury missing the game would certainly hurt New England but the biggest issue is Kei Kamara being away.
The Revolution have had an extremely difficult time finding the back of the net as of late and without Kamara to challenge the Rapid defense and get on the end of Lee Nguyen’s dangerous passes in the box, it’s hard to imagine New England troubling the leagues best defense.
Lee Nguyen and the Revs will have to unlock the leagues best defense to win at home. (Photo Credit: Kari Heistad)
This could be a match low on attacking flair. While New England have had trouble scoring as of late Colorado hasn’t been much better. On the season Colorado have managed to score 28 goals in 25 games while the Revs have only scored one more, 29 goals in 27 games.
Because the absence of Mekeil Williams and Marlon Hairston, Pablo Mastroeni will have to start Eric Miller as a fullback on Saturday. When Miller has played this season his play has been shaky, both attacking and defending and New England may find joy launching attacks from Miller’s wing. Michael Azira could provide defensive cover for Miller but Azira has seen his form dip after he had a career start to the season, leaving that avenue the most obvious area for New England to attack.
For Colorado the key to this match will be trying to generate an attack. With Gashi, Jones and Pappa out, it’s difficult to see where any attack will come from. Sebastien Le Toux, Domnique Badji and Kevin Doyle are all decent attacking players but players that need service to be effective. If Coach Mastroeni has to employ Dillon Powers in the central attacking role then New England shouldn’t have too much trouble foiling the Rapid attack as Powers vision isn’t sharp and the midfielder tends to take too much time on the ball, allowing defenders to close him down.
Dillon Powers will have to provide a spark with several key attackers missing for Colorado. (Photo Credit: Corbin Elliott)
This could be a match played in the center third of the park with neither team spending too much time in the attacking third of the field, but both sides need a win.
Colorado has lost two of their last five matches and has begun to slip down the table in the Western Conference. Last weekend the Rapids were soundly beaten by Real Salt Lake and need to rebound before next weekend when they travel to take on FC Dallas, the first place team in MLS.
New England need to start getting wins now if they want to make the playoffs. Right now the Revs sit in eighth place in the Eastern Conference on 27 points, four points behind D.C. United in the final Eastern Conference playoff spot. With less than ten games remaining in the 2016 regular season, New England is running out of time.
