The New England Revolution and Austin FC will face off for the first time on Saturday night in Foxborough, Mass.
Sitting second in the MLS Eastern Conference, the Revolution (13-5-7, 46 points) are unbeaten at home (10-0-3) this season but still trail league-leading FC Cincinnati by 11 points.
Austin FC (9-12-5, 32 points) are in the thick of the Western Conference playoff race, entering the weekend in 10th place but just one point below the playoff cut line.
Austin is the more desperate team but faces a Revolution side that has not lost at Gillette Stadium since Sept. 17, 2022 against CF Montreal, a run spanning 14 matches.
New England continued its strong form at home with a 1-0 victory against the New York Red Bulls on Wednesday night on Giacomo Vrioni’s 30th-minute goal.
“It’s always great to be at home with your fans in your home stadium, getting the support from them to help you along the way and keep that record going,” said Revolution assistant coach Richie Williams, who remains at the helm during head coach Bruce Arena’s suspension.
“We’ll take it one game at a time. Saturday is another home game against Austin, who had a great year last year — maybe a little up and down this year, but you can’t take them for granted.”
Among the recent bright spots for the Revs is midfielder Mark-Anthony Kaye, who provided an assist in the win over the Red Bulls.
Austin is coming off a 2-1, 90th-minute loss to the Seattle Sounders on Wednesday. Austin will look to leading scorer Sebastian Driussi, who has eight goals through 21 MLS matches in 2023.
Austin is 3-8-2 on the road this season.
“It gets mathematical, and you get to a point where you have to win, and we’re not at that point, but we certainly need to win,” Austin coach Josh Wolff said this week. “You have to stay connected to the group and find ways to get in — it’s very doable.”
—Field Level Media
Original source here
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