New England Revolution vs. San Jose Earthquakes
2017 MLS Regular Season
Gillette Stadium – Foxborough, Mass.
Wednesday, April 19 – 7:30 pm ET
WATCH: MLS LIVE
After seven rounds of weekend matches, the first midweek MLS match of the season is here, with the New England Revolution set to host the San Jose Earthquakes at Gillette Stadium on Wednesday night.
New England’s three-game unbeaten run came to a crashing halt at Chicago on Saturday, with an early Je-Vaughn Watson ejection dooming the Revs to 3-0 defeat at Toyota Park. San Jose continued their “Goonies”-style revival last Friday, getting a goal from midfielder Jahmir Hyka deep into second half stoppage time to draw 1-1 against FC Dallas at Avaya Stadium. It was the second straight match that San Jose scored in the 90th minute or later to salvage a 1-1 draw.
Of note: San Jose have won just once in their last 21 road matches and have dropped both of their away contests this year while New England have won both of their 2017 home games to extend their Gillette Stadium-winning streak to six dating back to last August.
New England Revolution
After following up a two-game, season-opening losing skid with a 2-0-1 mark in their next three matches, the Revs fell back to earth on Saturday, when they were handled 3-0 at Chicago. The Revs were dealt a hammer blow early at the Fire, with Watson picking up two yellow cards – both for fouls on Luis Solignac – in the span of seven minutes to put New England down a man in the 27th. Chicago controlled things from then on, dominating possession and limiting the Revs to one shot on target to cruise to a win.
This weekend’s performance was a downer, but New England have a great chance to get some positive momentum going again on Wednesday. The Revs are a perfect 2-0-0 at home this year, outscoring their opposition 7-2 at Gillette Stadium. After the loss to Chicago, Revs head coach Jay Heaps stressed the importance of bouncing back quickly.
“This has to be one of those where the team moves on quickly, because you just don’t have enough time to sit and dwell,” he said. “It’s a quick turnaround, we’re playing a good San Jose team, and we’ve already started talking about what we need to do to get our bodies right, get our minds right, and be prepared to play on Wednesday.”
- Suspended: Je-Vaughn Watson (red card)
- Int’l Duty: NONE
- Injury Report: NONE
Projected Starting XI (4-4-2 diamond): Cody Cropper; Andrew Farrell, Antonio Mlinar Delamea, Joshua Smith, Chris Tierney; Xavier Kouassi, Diego Fagundez, Kelyn Rowe, Lee Nguyen; Juan Agudelo, Kei Kamara
San Jose Earthquakes
Wednesday’s match is the first in a tough three-game road trip that will see the Quakes follow the Revs contest with a trip to Houston on Saturday and a match at Minnesota on April 29. After taking just two points from their previous two home games, San Jose – who are 1-11-7 away from Avaya Stadium since the start of 2016 – need to pick up a result or two over the next week and a half.
As is always the case, the questions for the Quakes are on the attacking end. San Jose have scored just eight goals in six games this year, and didn’t get on the board until the 90th minute in either of their last two matches. They did show some offensive promise towards the end of Friday’s draw against Dallas, however, with Hyka and Tommy Thompson pulling some strings on the wings. We’ll see if Dom Kinnear rolls out both from the start on Wednesday, or if he rotates his squad with an eye on Saturday’s game at Houston.
- Suspended: NONE
- Int’l Duty: NONE
- Injury Report: OUT: F - Quincy Amarikwa (knee surgery 9/29, out 9 months), D - Marvell Wynne (heart abnormality), M - Marc Pelosi (left knee injury), D - Harold Cummings (leg surgery, 3/30, out 4-6 months)
Projected Starting XI (4-4-2): David Bingham; Nick Lima, Florian Jungwirth, Fatai Alashe, Shaun Francis; Tommy Thompson, Darwin Ceren, Anibal Godoy, Jahmir Hyka; Danny Hoesen, Chris Wondolowski
All-Time Series
San Jose enjoy the all-time edge in their series against New England, which dates all the way back to MLS’ inaugural season of 1996. The Revs have enjoyed a recent run of dominance, however, posting a 3-0-1 record in their last four matches against the Quakes.
- Overall: Revolution 14 wins (2 shootout), 50 goals; Earthquakes 20 wins (0 shootout) 68 goals; 6 draws
- At New England: Revolution 8 wins (0 shootout), 25 goals; Earthquakes 10 wins (0 shootout), 30 goals; 2 draws
