You might not expect Minnesota United and the New England Revolution to exchange too many bold pregame statements before just their second meeting ever on Wednesday night (8 pm ET | Full TV and streaming info).
But you’d be wrong.
The Revs just suffered a dramatic 3-2 comeback loss at home to the LA Galaxy and visit MNUFC at TCF Bank Stadium before a trip to face the New York Red Bulls on Sunday – and despite the traditional difficulties of life on the road in MLS, they've targeted the capture of all six points.
“We can take advantage of a Minnesota team who I think we can beat and a New York team who we’ve already beaten this year,” said midfielder Kelyn Rowe this week. “It’s two games we should win as long as we keep our heads and play our game.”
“They have a few attacking threats that we need to calm down, just keep them cool,” he added, mentioning Darwin Quintero and Miguel Ibarra in particular. “As long as we can do that, I think our attacking threats are much more prominent and a little better.”
Given the busy schedule – they play five out of their next six games on the road – New England have elected to charter their flight to and from the Twin Cities and head coach Brad Friedel laid out very clear, and lofty, expectations for his side.
“Having a charter flight really makes it irrelevant whether the game’s home or away, to be honest with you,” Friedel said. “We have a three-game week, so I thought it’d be prudent to use the charter flights. Charter flights are something that are very important, I hope they increase throughout the years of the league because it really does help the away team.
“I do not agree that there’s parity in this league. I think we have a very, very good squad,” he added. “I’m going to be a little bit greedy: I don’t think that we should be dropping too many points throughout the entire season, home or away.
“We’re going to go and try to win the game and there’s no doubt in my mind about that.”
The Loons, for their part, have taken a similar tone.
“When we play well at home, we're more than a match for anybody,” said head coach Adrian Heath before offering some praise for Friedel’s “incredibly hard-working, disciplined, in-your-face” Revolution.
Added captain Francisco Calvo: “They just lost 3-2 in the last minute so it’s going to be in their head. If we score first, the loss is going to come back to their heads. We are really strong when we play at TCF and we need to continue in that way.”
