New England Revolution vs. DC United | 2017 MLS Match Preview

Sam Stejskal

New England Revolution vs. D.C. United
2017 MLS Regular Season
Gillette Stadium – Foxborough, Mass.
Saturday, April 22 – 7:30 pm ET
WATCH: MLS LIVE

Three days after playing the San Jose Earthquakes to a scoreless draw, the New England Revolution will welcome D.C. United to Gillette Stadium on Saturday night for their second home match of the week.

Both teams have gotten off to uneven starts, with New England currently sitting at 2-3-2 and D.C., who have played one fewer game than the Revs, one point behind them with a 2-3-1 record. They’ll both be looking to get back into the win column on Saturday for the first time in two weeks.

New England Revolution

Goalkeeper Cody Cropper was the story for the Revs on Wednesday night, with the first-year starter making some fantastic stops to record his second shutout of the year and preserve a point for New England. Cropper’s emergence has been a positive storyline for the Revs, who were rightly thrilled with the 24-year-old’s performance against San Jose.

“There were a couple of instances where [San Jose] broke us down, and Cody came up big just to keep us in the game and give us a chance to win,” said midfielder Scott Caldwell. “It was really impressive to see from him.”

Cropper, who signed with New England last August and beat out Brad Knighton to win the starting job this preseason, probably won’t be as busy on Saturday night. D.C. have struggled in the attack all year, scoring just four goals in six matches and getting shutout four times, including in both of their away matches. The Revs, who figure to rotate their squad a bit as they play their third match in a week, will look to extend D.C.’s road misery on Saturday.

Suspended: NONE
Int’l Duty: NONE
Injury Report: NONE

Projected Starting XI (4-4-2): Cody Cropper – Andrew Farrell, Joshua Smith, Antonio Mlinar Delamea, Chris Tierney – Xavier Kouassi, Teal Bunbury, Kelyn Rowe, Lee Nguyen – Juan Agudelo, Kei Kamara

Notes: Prior to Wednesday’s draw against San Jose, the Revolution had won six consecutive regular season home matches … New England have scored three penalty kick goals thus far this season, tied with Portland for most in MLS.

D.C. United

After getting off the schneid with a pair of home wins against Philadelphia and NYCFC, United fell back down to earth a bit last week, when they were shutout in a 2-0 loss at the New York Red Bulls.

D.C. have cleaned things up in the back since Bobby Boswell returned to the starting lineup, but questions persist in the attack, particularly with Patrick Mullins still questionable due to injury. There isn’t really an out-and-out goal scorer on the roster if Mullins isn’t clicking, and, if teams can slow down attacking midfielder Luciano Acosta, D.C. can quickly run out of ideas.

Going on the road has also been a significant challenge for United this year. They’re 0-2-0 away from RFK Stadium in 2017, and have been shutout in both of their away games. Their defense will also be without US international center back and club captain Steve Birnbaum this week after he suffered a concussion at the Red Bulls.

“Away games in this league are very tough,” head coach Ben Olsen told DCUnited.com. “[New England is] a place we’ve been able to get points historically, though, and we’re looking to do that.”

Suspended: NONE
Int’l Duty: NONE
Injury Report: OUT: M – Rob Vincent (meniscus), GK Eric Klenofsky (meniscus), D – Steve Birnbaum (concussion), M – Patrick Nyarko (hamstring); QUESTIONABLE: F – Patrick Mullins (hamstring), M/D – Nick DeLeon (ab injury)

Projected Starting XI (4-1-4-1): Bill Hamid – Sean Franklin, Kofi Opare, Bobby Boswell, Taylor Kemp – Marcelo Sarvas – Lloyd Sam, Ian Harkes, Luciano Acosta, Sebastien Le Toux – Jose Guillermo Ortiz

Notes: D.C. only have one win in their last 11 regular season trips to New England (1-6-4), with the Revs outscoring United 15-10 over the course of those meetings … D.C. have lost their last three away games, conceding 10 goals in that run.

All-Time Series

United hold the edge in the all-time series between the two MLS originals, posting a 32-26-11 record against New England.

Overall: Revolution 26 wins, 84 goals; D.C. 32 wins, 100 goals; 11 draws
At New England: Revolution 17 wins, 40 goals; D.C. 11 wins, 36 goals; 4 draws