DC United vs. New England Revolution | 2018 MLS Match Preview

Dylan Butler

DC United vs. New England Revolution
2018 MLS Regular Season — Week 25
Audi Field — Washington DC
August 19 - 7:30 pm ET
WATCH: FS1, MLS LIVE on DAZN (Canada)

With three wins in four consecutive games without defeat, D.C. United appear to be making a playoff push, while the New England Revolution are trending the other way, winless in their last six with four losses in their last five.

D.C. are coming off consecutive wins at Audi Field, including a 4-1 drubbing of the Portland Timbers in the midweek, while the Revs fell to the Philadelphia Union, 3-2, at home on Saturday.

This is the second meeting this season, with New England winning 3-2 at Gillette Stadium on June 30. Cristian Penilla struck for a brace, including the eventual winner from the penalty spot in the 76th minute three minutes after Yamil Asad scored his second goal of the game on a PK. Teal Bunbury also scored for the Revs in first-half stoppage time.

SPECIAL NOTE: The FS1 broadcast will make history, featuring an all-female announcing team, including play-by-play announcer Lisa Byington, analyst Danielle Slaton, and reporter Katie Witham. Witham joined the ExtraTime Radio podcast this week.

DC United

D.C. United (6-9-6) continue a steady rise up the Eastern Conference standings following a 4-1 win over the Timbers Wednesday night, moving the Black-and-Red to within six points of the playoff line with four games in hand on sixth-place Montreal.

After falling behind on a Samuel Armenteros goal in the 35th minute, Wayne Rooney scored the first of his two goals two minutes from halftime to equalize. Oniel Fisher gave D.C. their first lead two minutes into the second half. Rooney bagged his brace with a scintillating 68th-minute free kick and Darren Mattocks punished his former club with an insurance goal in the first minute of second-half stoppage time.

“It’s important that we take each game as it comes and our game Sunday is an important three points,” Rooney said. “Our intention was to get nine points this week and we’ve put ourselves in quite a position to push for the playoffs. Hopefully we can keep getting results and keep moving forward.”

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: M - Chris Durkin
International duty: None
Injury Report: OUT: D - Taylor Kemp (labrum surgery), D - Nick DeLeon (knee injury), D - Jalen Robinson (MCL sprain)

Projected Starting XI
(4-2-3-1, right to left)
GK: Bill Hamid — Oniel Fisher, Kofi Opare, Steve Birnbaum, Joseph Mora — Russell Canouse, Junior Moreno — Paul Arriola, Luciano Acosta, Yamil Asad — Wayne Rooney

New England Revolution

The freefall continues for New England (7-8-8), which fell to the Philadelphia Union, 3-2, at Gillette Stadium Saturday night.

Jack Elliott buried a brace inside the opening 24 minutes for the visitors before Andrew Farrell and Wilfried Zahibo clawed the Revs back with a pair of goals in the opening 20 minutes of the second half. But Fafa Picault capped the win for the Union with a 76th-minute penalty kick.

“It’s just about those little times in the games that we have to do a better job,” Brad Friedel said. “We’ve been playing some really good soccer at a lot of times during the season and a lot of times during this run. We have very rarely been the second best team on the field. We have to defend set pieces better and cut out some individual mistakes.”

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: None
International duty: None
Injury Report: OUT: D - Chris Tierney (torn right ACL)

Projected Starting XI
(4-4-2, right to left)
GK: Matt Turner — Andrew Farrell, Antonio Delamea, Jalil Anibaba, Brandon Bye — Juan Agudelo, Wilfried Zahibo, Luis Caicedo, Cristian Penilla — Teal Bunbury, Diego Fagundez

All-Time Series

Overall: D.C. United 33 wins, 105 goals … New England Revolution 27 wins, 89 goals … 12 draws
At D.C.: D.C. United 23 wins, 67 goals … Revolution 9 wins, 44 goals … 4 draws
Last meeting at D.C.: D.C. United 1, New England Revolution 0 (August 26, 2017)