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Toronto FC and New England Revolution look to continue momentum

Learn about Toronto FC and the New England Revolution, who both want to continue their unbeaten run on Wednesday.
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Toronto FC will face the New England Revolution for the second time this season. The first time was at the MLS is Back Tournament group stage. Both teams tied with no goal scored. As a result, both Toronto and the Revolution had the most points in the MiB Group C group stage with five points each. They also both had the same goal differential.

However, Toronto FC ended up winning the group because they scored more goals than the Revolution. Both teams were knocked out of the MiB Tournament in the Round of 16 knockout round.

Toronto FC Faces the New England Revolution for the Second Time in the 2020 MLS Season

New England Revolution

The Revolution is sixth in the MLS Eastern Conference. Their last result was a 0-0 draw against the expansion side Nashville SC. However, the Revolution will feel hard done as they were the better team. They had 17 shots, with six hitting the target and they also had 66 percent possession of the ball. This is what Revolution player Tajon Buchanan said about the game:

Buchanan had one of the best chances as his terrific strike was met by goalkeeper Joe Ellis. Ellis made six saves for Nashville as he helped the team to gain a point.

The Revs top goalscorer is Gustavo Bou who has scored five goals. Of the five goals, three of them were game-winning goals. He is also second in assists with three. This is while Cristian Penilla had four assists, including one game-winning assist.

A possible X-factor for the Revolution is Bou. This is what Revolution head coach Bruce Arena said about Bou. It was after Bou scored one goal in a 3-1 victory over the Montreal Impact on Sept. 23.

“He’s a goal scorer. He’ll score goals,” Arena said. “I think he’s been a little hesitant. We’re playing him in a little bit of a new position. But if Gustavo [Bou] gets chances, he’ll finish. The last couple of games, I think he’s backed off from a couple chances. So tonight’s goal, I think will give him a little confidence.”

The Revolution scored only 15 goals, which is the second-lowest goals scored for a current Eastern Conference playoff team. However, their defense has been spectacular. They are tied for giving up the second-fewest goals along with New York City FC in the 2020 MLS season with 12 goals conceded. They are also unbeaten in four games including getting two wins over the Impact and D.C. United.

Toronto FC

Toronto FC has 31 points in the 2020 MLS season. They are also tied for first in the Eastern Conference with Columbus Crew SC. However, the Crew has a better goal differential than Toronto FC. As a result, Toronto is second in both the Eastern Conference and in the Supporters’ Shield race.

Toronto FC has won three straight games and is in a five-game unbeaten run. This includes two wins against two of the top four teams in MLS including the Crew and the Philadelphia Union. Seven of Toronto’s nine-wins this season have been one-goal margins. This is what Greg Vanney, Toronto FC head coach said about his team’s win over the Union.

“We’ve had good possession, we’ve pinned the opposition back. First half we didn’t create as many chances as I would have liked for the amount of the ball that we had, so we tried to adjust a little bit of our movements for the second half to try to open up some spaces.”

Toronto’s Jonathan Osorio also had a comment about the confidence level of the club.

However, Vanney also talked about the things Toronto needs to improve on:

“We do need to stop conceding the first goal, to start better, but, by and large, the last couple of games specifically – not so much in New York – we’ve controlled the game, played the majority of it in the attacking half.”

Scoring against the Revolution will be difficult as they are a well-trained defensive team. However, the offense of Toronto FC is quite lethal. They have scored the second-most goals in the Eastern Conference only behind Orlando City SC. Toronto has also improved its defense a lot from last year only allowing 16 goals this season.

Alejandro Pozuelo is Toronto FC’s best player. He has scored seven goals (including four game-winning goals), which is tied with Ayo Akinola (with one game-winning goal) for the team lead for Toronto. Furthermore, Pozuelo leads both Toronto and MLS in assists (includes one game-winning assist) with nine.

Injuries

The Revolution have two players missing for Wednesday’s game against Toronto FC. Luis Caicedo has been out since Feb. 1 with a meniscal injury. He is injured for the rest of the 2020 MLS season. This is while Carles Gil had an Achilles tendon surgery since Aug. 6.

Unfortunately, the injury issues are much worse for Toronto FC. Ifunanyachi Achara had a torn knee ligament since July 2. He will not appear again in the 2020 MLS season. Also, Michael Bradley is out with a medial collateral ligament injury since Sept. 2. Auro Jr. has also been out since Sept. 14 with an ankle injury.

Then in Toronto’s last game, Jozy Altidore and Justin Morrow got injured. Morrow has tightness in his calf, so his status remains unknown. However, Vanney said something worrying about the status of Altidore.

https://twitter.com/KristianJack/status/1312569181133508608

 

Overview of Toronto FC vs. New England Revolution

Despite the injury issues, Toronto FC should be the favorite. They have won three straight games, including against two of the top four teams in MLS. Pozuelo is in his best form as a Toronto FC player. Furthermore, players like Akinola and Richie Laryea have emerged as a great young nucleus for Toronto. Lastly, Pozuelo of Toronto and Henry Kessler of the Revolution recently made the MLS Team of the Week.

The game will be played at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough on Wednesday and will start at 7:30 PM eastern time. Furthermore, the game will be on television at TSN 1 and 4 in Canada and NBC Sports Boston in New England. Lastly, the game will be streamed on MLS Live on ESPN+ in the US.

 

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