New England Revolution vs. Orlando City SC | 2018 MLS Match Preview

New England Revolution vs. Orlando City SC
2018 MLS Regular Season — Week 33
Gillette Stadium — Foxborough
October 13 - 7:30 pm ET
WATCH: ESPN+, MLS LIVE on DAZN (Canada)

Needing a win to stay mathematically alive for the Audi 2018 MLS Cup playoffs, the New England Revolution host Orlando City SC Saturday night at Gillette Stadium.

The Revs are coming off a 2-1 defeat to Atlanta United that put them on the brink of elimination, while the Lions were officially eliminated following a 2-0 loss at FC Dallas.

This is the second meeting this season, with the teams playing to a 3-3 draw at Orlando City Stadium on August 4. The Revs raced out to a 2-0 lead on goal by Juan Agudelo and Cristian Penilla inside the opening 18 minutes before Dom Dwyer and Amro Tarek leveled for the Lions. Teal Bunbury gave New England another lead in the 76th minute, but Scott Sutter equalized in the third minute of stoppage time.

New England Revolution

The playoff hopes for New England (8-12-11) took a major hit in a 2-1 loss to Atlanta United on Saturday. The Revs are now eight points below the playoff line in the Eastern Conference with three games to play.

George Bello opened the scoring in the 16th minute and Julian Gressel doubled the lead in the 52nd minute before Juan Agudelo scored in stoppage time for the Revs, who are now winless in their last four games and have just one victory in their last 14 games.

“We put ourselves in a big hole. You never stop fighting when there’s points on the board to play for,” Brad Friedel said. “The only way to keep ourselves in it is by beating Orlando and hopefully we can get those three points and it puts a little bit of pressure on the other teams. It’s going to be a little bit of a mountain to climb now, but you can never stop fighting or stop playing until the points aren’t there to get you in the playoffs anymore.”

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: M - Luis Caicedo
International duty: D - Antonio Delamea, M - Zachary Herivaux
Injury Report: OUT: D - Chris Tierney (torn right ACL), D - Andrew Farrell (hamstring injury)

Projected Starting XI
(4-4-2, right to left)
GK: Brad Knighton — Brandon Bye, Michael Mancienne, Jalil Anibaba, Kelyn Rowe — Luis Caicedo, Wilfried Zahibo, Diego Fagundez, Crisitan Penilla — Teal Bunbury, Juan Agudelo

Orlando City SC

It’s now four games without a goal for Orlando (7-19-4), which fell at FC Dallas, 2-0, last Saturday.

Santiago Mosquera opened the scoring in the 63rd minute and Victor Ulloa doubled the lead in the 69th minute for FC Dallas, which eliminated Orlando from playoff contention.

“I think the morale is obviously difficult when you’re in a situation like that,” James O’Connor said. “I think you have two choices: You either feel sorry for yourself or you get out and play like we did first half [against FC Dallas].”

Suspended: F - Dom Dwyer, M - Yoshi Yotun
Suspended after next caution: None
International duty: M - Yoshi Yotun, M - Mohamed El-Munir, D - Amro Tarek
Injury Report: OUT: GK - Mason Stajduhar (Localized Ewing Sarcoma), M - Pierre Da Silva (knee injury), D - Jonathan Spector (back); DAY-TO-DAY: F - Stefano Pinho (quad)

Projected Starting XI
(4-2-3-1, right to left)
GK: Joe Bendik — Scott Sutter, Shane O’Neill, Lamine Sane, RJ Allen — Carlos Ascues, Will Johnson — Cristian Higuita, Sacha Kljestan, Josue Colman — Chris Mueller

All-Time Series

Overall: New England Revolution 2 wins, 18 goals … Orlando City SC 2 wins, 18 goals … 4 draws
At New England: Revolution 2 wins, 9 goals … Orlando City SC 0 wins, 2 goals … 1 draw
Last meeting at New England: New England Revolution 4, Orlando City SC 0 (Sept. 2, 2017)