New England Revolution vs. Orlando City SC | 2017 MLS Match Preview

Arielle Castillo

New England Revolution vs. Orlando City SC
2017 MLS Regular Season
Gillette Stadium – Foxborough, Massachusetts
Sept. 2, 2017 – 7 pm ET
WATCH: MLS LIVE

With a tough Eastern Conference deck stacked against them, whoever leaves Gillette on Saturday with fewer than three points can possibly kiss the postseason goodbye. This match is all about fighting for dignity – on the Revs' side, for glimmers of hope that could point towards a 2018 retool, and for the Lions, scraping back to the promise of the early season.

Both sides, too, come into this match on the back of a loss. The Revs fell to D.C. United 1-0, while Orlando City fell 1-2 to the Vancouver Whitecaps. That's grim, but also makes the playing field more level for either side to come out on top.

New England Revolution

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: None
International Duty: D - Je-Vaughn Watson (JAM, Sept. 2 friendly vs. CAN), D - Antonio Delamea (SVN, WCQs Sept. 1 vs. SVK, Sept. 4 at LTU)
Injury Report: OUT: M - Kelyn Rowe (right knee sprain, out 6-8 weeks), QUESTIONABLE: M Diego Fagundez (right quad strain), F Krisztian Nemeth (Left calf strain), M Lee Nguyen (right hamstring strain)

Projected Starting XI
(4-3-3, right to left)
GK: Cody Cropper – Andrew Farrell, Claude Dielna, Chris Tierney, Benjamin Angoua – Scott Caldwell, Gershon Koffie, Diego Fagundez – Kei Kamara, Lee Nguyen, Teal Bunbury

Notes: The Revolution have won three straight home league matches, and 11 of their last 16 overall home league games (2L-2D). They have outscored the opposition 8-3 on their current three game home run.

Orlando City SC

Suspended: M - Cristian Higuita
Suspended after next caution: None
International Duty: F - Cyle Larin (CAN, Sept. 2 friendly vs. JAM), M - Yoshimar Yotun (PER, CONMEBOL WCQs Aug. 31 vs. BOL, Sept. 5 at ECU)
Injury Report: OUT: D - Jonathan Spector (knee injury, out 2-3 weeks), GK - Josh Saunders (neck injury, out for season), M- Richie Larya (hamstring); QUESTIONABLE: M - Will Johnson (ankle sprain)

Projected Starting XI
(4-3-3, right to left)
GK: Joe Bendik – Scott Sutter, Tommy Redding, Leonardo Pereira, Donny Toia – Giles Barnes, Antonio Nocerino, Servando Carrasco – Dom Dwyer, Kaká, Carlos Rivas

Notes: Orlando are winless in their last seven league matches (5L-2D), and have been outscored 13-6 along the way. Orlando have only kept one clean sheet in 12 league road games in 2017.

All-Time Series

This will be the sixth ever regular season meeting between the two teams, and the first of 2017. Each team has won once, and there have been three draws in the previous five matches.