New England Revolution versus D.C. United
June 30th, 7PM EST/4PM PST, NewsChannel 8/ESPN +
Two old rivals will meet for the first time in 2018 on Saturday night when D.C. United (2-6-4, 10 points) travel to Gillette Stadium to take on the New England Revolution (6-4-6, 24 points).
While a match between New England and D.C. would be enough to stir the interest of soccer supporters on the East Coast, it was given a bit more spice with United announcing that Wayne Rooney would be joining the side. Rooney signed a two-and-a-half year deal with United during the middle of the week becoming D.C.’s highest paid player.
Now here’s the bad news: Unfortunately he won’t be playing in Saturday’s match against the New England Revolution. The former England international and Manchester United legend is beholden to the international transfer window which does not allow players to feature for their new sides until July 10th. There is a possibility of Mr. Rooney enjoying the match from Robert Kraft’s owners box on Saturday but sadly that will be all for him.
That being said this is still a very intriguing match-up with plenty of history between the two sides. United and the Revolution have squared off 71 times during the MLS regular season with D.C. holding the 33-26 advantage (there have also been 12 draws). As expected New England have the better record at the Big Razor 17-10-8 on 59 points.
United won the season series last year defeating New England 1-0 at home in August and pulling off an improbable 2-2 draw on the road in April. In the draw New England held possession for large periods of time with Juan Agudelo and Diego Fagundez giving D.C. trouble on the outside edges of the pitch. But United found two goals off of New England defensive miscues and held on for the point.
In just a matter of months Cristian Penilla and Teal Bunbury have developed an electric partnership that has galvanized the Revs attack (photo credit Kari Heistad)
While many of the players and coaches have changed since then their attitude and strategy really haven’t. New England continue to use their speed in the midfield and attack to create pockets of space in their opponent’s defensive third. Fagundez (5 goals) and Teal Bunbury (9 goals) have formed one of the most potent 1-2 attacking combinations in MLS and will be looking to feast on a United back four that have struggled against sides who operate from a 3-5-2.
The x-factor for New England though has been Cristian Penilla. The 27-year old Ecuadorian international has blossomed in his first season in MLS, scoring six goals and tallying five assists. Penilla likes to directly engage an opponent’s defensive midfielders splitting open the defense for Fagundez and Bunbury. Containing him will fall on the shoulders of Chris Durkin who has done a remarkable job in his first full season with United in limiting opponent’s space inside D.C.’s half of the midfield.
New England will also have the benefit of coming into this match relatively healthy. Left-back Chris Tierney is gone for the rest of the season with a torn ACL while midfielder-forward Femi Hollinger-Janzen is out for the next 6-8 weeks with an elbow injury.
As for D.C. the injury list is much longer. Defenders Taylor Kemp (labrum), Nick De Leon (knee), Kofi Opare (ankle), Chris Odoi-Atsem (calf), and midfielders Ulises Segura (knee) and Russell Canouse (knee) are all out for this match and, for the most part, beyond.
The one area where D.C. is not hurting right now is in the attack. Forward Darren Mattocks has found his form in 2018, scoring seven times for United. His work with Yamil Asad and Luciano Acosta in D.C.’s 4-4 draw with Toronto FC was perhaps the lone bright spot in a match that saw United lose the lead twice. New England have had to come back in each of their last four matches to earn points which is impressive but also has to worry head coach Brad Friedel. Luis Caicedo and Kellyn Rowe will have their hands full against a United side that like to catch opponent’s napping on the counter-attack.
Given that the two sides have combined to score 46 goals this season this match has the makings of a high-scoring affair. With both sides also needing points there should also be a certain sense urgency within both sides. New England should like their chances in this match, given how poorly United have performed on the road this season and due to goalkeeper Matt Turner’s recent form. But as evidenced by last season’s 2-2 draw United are not afraid at playing in Gillette.
DC United
NE Revolution
