The New England Revolution make a return to MLS action tomorrow with a bang. They and FC Cincinnati are two of the outstanding teams in the league to date and they will go toe-to-toe at Gillette Stadium. Who will reign supreme in this major Eastern Conference clash?
A Must-See Eastern Conference Clash
Balancing a Three Game-Week
2-1 has been a common scoreline for the Revolution this week and they’d happily have that continue after Saturday night. First, Sporting Kansas City visited Gillette Stadium in the league and DP forward Giacomo Vrioni made the difference, scoring twice. Captain Carles Gil has given Vrioni the stamp of approval, saying that he “is doing now very good things for the team and scoring goals.”
Hartford Athletic were the first opponents outside of the league in mid-week and that allowed Bruce Arena to rotate his side in a second 2-1 win in just a few days. Earl Edwards Jnr, Damian Rivera and Justin Rennicks were amongst those to enter the fold. Rennicks found the back of the net with a very smart header and also, former SKC defender Ben Sweat was able to debut for the Revs too.
Club history was made during Tuesday night’s Open Cup game. For the first time ever our starting lineup featured five Homegrown Players – Esmir Bajraktarevic, Noel Buck, Jack Panayotou, Justin Rennicks and Damian Rivera 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/rG8leeOucG
— New England Revolution (@NERevolution) April 27, 2023
Tomorrow’s opponents, FC Cincinnati, also prevailed in their cup game. Teenager Arquimides Ordonez led the line with the more experienced Dom Badji and it was the 19-year-old who scored the only goal of the game against Louisville City. They also come into this Eastern Conference clash with a winning taste in their mouth.
Arquimides shone when given the opportunity and one of the starting strikers Brenner has been in the headlines for different reasons. Serie A side Udinese have announced the signing of the Brazilian in a deal worth around $10 million. Brenner, along with Luciano Acosta and Brandon Vazquez, formed an unstoppable triumvirate last season and so it’ll be fascinating to see what steps Pat Noonan and co take next.
Read More: Ben Sweat Bolsters the Backline in New England
Who Does Form Favour for This Eastern Conference Clash?
Since FC Cincinnati first entered Major League Soccer back in 2019, this has been a one-sided fixture. The team from Ohio have won twice against the Revs, these being the first-ever meeting and then the most recent one, a 4-0 thrashing in pre-season.
Beyond that outing, New England have five wins to their name in all competitions plus a singular draw- it must be said that Arena’s men have fared better away from home. Looking at the 2022 season and both clashes were high-scoring with one finishing 2-2 and the other being a 3-2 win in favour of the Revs, Brandon Bye assisting all three goals.
🔝 two teams in @MLS clash this weekend!
The Weekly Update ahead of #NEvCIN, pres. by @DeanCollege 👇 pic.twitter.com/TT4JnKYqij
— New England Revolution (@NERevolution) April 27, 2023
There is a familiar face on the FC Cincinnati bench for Arena in the form of his son Kenny. He had the following to say on watching him progress and succeed. “His run in Cincinnati has been very good and it’s great to see how well that staff has done, so a real positive.”
Meanwhile, this is Bruce’s breakdown of Cinci ahead of this Eastern Conference Clash. “Well, they’re a very good team clearly. How we match up, we’re going to find out I guess on Saturday but they’ve got a very good group of attacking players led by [Luciano] Acosta, two very good strikers in [Sergio] Santos and [Brandon] Vazquez, a good backline led by [Matt] Miazga, the central midfielders are good, [Álvaro] Barreal on the left is good, so they’ve got a well-rounded team and it’s not surprising to see the kind of success they’ve had in the early going.”
Both sides will fancy their chances of grasping the three points and could it be a huge result either way. Gil made the point of this being a statement game and it is certainly true, “we know that if we win, then we will be alone on the top, and that’s we want.” Will the Spaniard be able to mastermind a seventh win of the season for the Revs?
Featured image credit: Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports: taken Apr 26, 2023.
