Having lost a second game on the spin, in spite of a goal from Carles Gil, it becomes all the more intense in New England. The Revolution are playing catch-up in the race for playoff football and the same goes for their midweek opponents. Both the Revs and the Fire have it all to play for and the pair will do battle in a true six-pointer tomorrow night.
The Revolution Have to Beat Chicago!
Every Point Matters
It wouldn’t be melodramatic to say that this game versus Chicago is a must-win for the New England Revolution. Six of the seven remaining fixtures for Bruce Arena’s men are against teams also in the Eastern Conference. This includes two meetings with the Fire. There was no dressing it up from Arena either, “We have seven games left and it’s going to be seven important games”, the coach also saying that “We have to win games.”
Having conceded four to CF Montreal north of the border, it was the worse possible start in the subsequent outing. Greg Vanney’s LA Galaxy had two on the board with 15 minutes gone, Daniel Aguirre and Chicharito being the duo to beat Djordje Petrovic. Carles Gil curled home a customary worldie but to no avail, another three points dropped in the process.
From outside the 18, Carles Gil cuts the visitors' lead in half! pic.twitter.com/Z3SKbsraG4
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) August 29, 2022
The Chicago Fire themselves are struggling with three losses in a row to their name. Granted these defeats have come at the hands of some of the best that the East has to offer, the Philadelphia Union, NYCFC and Montreal.
Chris Mueller, who returned to MLS after a brief stint in Scotland, scored the Fire’s only game across this trio of fixtures. Ezra Hendrickson’s side are four points below the Revolution in the standings and so their playoff dreams are even further out of reach.
Here is Arena’s breakdown of the team that will visit Gillette Stadium. “They have two good strikers in [Kacper] Przybyłko and [Jhon] Duran, a good midfield and wide attacking player in [Chris] Mueller, and a good, young goalkeeper in [Gabriel] Slonina, who will be going to Chelsea in January.”
Carles Gil Enjoys This Fixture
Carles Gil was on target in the last outing against the Galaxy, but he is just as much a playmaker as well. In the last three clashes with Chicago, Gil has contributed an assist to his team’s cause. Two of these were entertaining draws whilst the other matchup saw New England win 3-2. Who came off the bench to score the winner in that one? It was indeed Carles Gil.
"We've made some progress, but we still have a long ways to go."
— Chicago Fire FC (@ChicagoFire) August 28, 2022
As has been alluded to before, this stretch of games is make or break for the side’s respective seasons. Revolution fullback DeJuan Jones highlighted this in the build-up to the game. “It’s a tough part of the season right now. We know that results are needed. but again, we watch the film, we break plays down and talk about it and we figure out solutions. I think we’ll be much more solid for tomorrow’s game and to finish out the season.”
The Fire stand in the way of New England twice whilst they also have games against both New York teams and Atlanta United still to come. Inter Miami and the Columbus Crew are amongst the sides that the Foxborough faithful have to hunt down.
Read More: The New England Revolution Stumble In Their Playoff Pursuit
Carles Gil Can Secure the Revs a Playoff Berth
Since his arrival in the States, it is difficult to talk about the Revs without mentioning Carles Gil. The diminutive Spaniard is a huge asset to this organisation, just ask his teammates.
“Carles is a great leader. Definitely on the field, you guys see how important he is to us. Even in the locker room though, he’s just a great guy to have around the locker room. He really brings the morale up for the group, and he’s our creative playmaker, you know, he makes plays like that, we see it in practice. So, hoping he’ll continue to do that for us for the rest of the season” are the words of Jones.
Meanwhile, along with the previously mentioned players, Xherdan Shaqiri is the obvious standout for the visitors. His career speaks for itself, spells with Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Lyon and of course Liverpool all to his name. The Swiss international’s involvement in this game remains to be seen. Arena touched on the matter: “Shaqiri has been their leader most of the year and he went out with an injury the other day. Whether he plays or not, I don’t know, but that will change their team a bit.”
The constant message is that this is a massive game and one that will be hotly contested. Who will prevail, and keep their playoff dreams alive in the process?
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