Foxborough, MASS– The New England Revolution were one of only six teams in action over the weekend. Whilst Charlotte beat the Red Bulls and San Jose kept out Nashville, the Revs edged out Sporting Kansas City on the road. This time out, New England will be in front of their home fans as Orlando City come to town for a mid-week matchup.
Orlando City are the First of Two Opponents this week for the Revs
New England Could Leapfrog Orlando City with a Win
Following a positive string of results, the Revs are within touching distance of the playoffs. Bruce Arena’s men have gone six without a defeat in league play, the latest of those being that win in Kansas. The other road trips in that stretch saw them draw with Atlanta thanks to a brace from Adam Buksa and then overcome Cincinnati in a back-and-forth affair.
Along with that they drew with both Columbus and the Union at home, as well as beating Inter Miami at Gillette Stadium. Buksa was also on target in the former and latter which again speaks to how big a lose he will prove to be in the attacking department.
Some shoddy defending from #SportingKC but this is a nice take and finish from Gustavo Bou 🇦🇷#NERevs need him fully fit and firing after losing Adam Buksa. Good signs.pic.twitter.com/WEYGVPBb3A
— Chris Smith (@Chris_SXI) June 12, 2022
On the flipside, Orlando City have a much worse record over that same stretch of games. They may have advanced to the next round of the Open Cup after beating Florida rivals Miami, but in and around that has been shaky. So much so that a Revs win tomorrow night would see the hosts jump ahead of the Lions in the Eastern Conference.
Ercan Kara gave Oscar Pareja’s side the league at Exploria Stadium in the last one, his fourth on the season. FC Dallas hit back in emphatic fashion though, the trio of Paul Arriola, Franco Jara and Jesus Ferreira starring to turn the game on its’ head.
The Tale of the Tape
You have to go all the way back to 2017 to find the last time Orlando City won this fixture in the league, and they did so comfortably that day. It was a story of some familiar names to European football fans for Jason Kreis’ side. Kaka netted a brace whilst Italian midfielder Antonio Nocerino was also on target.
Since then, there have been three high-scoring draws, the other four going the way of New England. The pair met twice last year, Buksa scoring in both matches along with now West Brom striker Daryl Dike. The Pole came off the bench to bag two in the draw down south with the other one being a win for the Revs at tomorrow’s venue.
Working towards Wednesday night 💪@orlandohealth | #VamosOrlando pic.twitter.com/BZLFbZpxx6
— x – Orlando City SC (@OrlandoCitySC) June 14, 2022
Despite this exemplary record, coach Arena spoke highly of Orlando City: “we’ve played some difficult matches against them over the years,” Then going onto highlight the standout positions. “Their front four or five players are very good. Ruan at right back is very dangerous going forward. Their number 10 [Mauricio Pereyra] is a good player. The new addition [Facundo] Torres on the left is a very good player, they have a very talented group of players in the attacking end of the field.”
Who will make the Difference?
Those are some of the Orlando City names highlighted by Arena, but a key duo will be absent. Defender Antonio Carlos has been missing for a while now with injury and that is still the case, plus Pedro Gallese was with Peru, on an unsuccessful World Cup qualification mission: “I know they’re missing their number one goalkeeper due to international duty.”
Meanwhile, the Revs have had Wilfrid Kaptoum playing recently in midfield, a player that Arena has spoken highly of. “He’s technically good, a good passer of the ball. I think in that position on the field, we need better passing.” Also, Dylan Borrero has hit the ground running, in the words of Kaptoum, he “is a player who’s very capable. He’s very fast and very vertical and those abilities are going to help us and help make a difference in the coming games.”
The Revolution are starting to gather momentum and pick up form. This may well be dented by the departures of Buksa and Matt Turner with Gustavo Bou the man tasked with scoring the goals and Djordje Petrovic taking over in between the sticks. Orlando City are ahead in the standings at the time of writing but that can change with a New England win.
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