New York Red Bulls vs. New England Revolution | 2014 MLS Cup Playoffs Match Preview

EASTERN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP, LEG 1
NEW YORK RED BULLS VS. NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION
1:30 pm ET, Sunday, November 23
TV: NBC | NBC Live Extra

The New York Red Bulls and New England Revolution both return to the Conference Championships for the first time in years. In fact, neither club has made it to this stage of the MLS Cup Playoffs, presented by AT&T, since the Red Bulls did it in 2008; the Revs haven't been here since their mid-00s heyday in 2007. And, of course, neither has ever won the MLS Cup. So this clash marks the next step in their collective ambitions to finally bring home the most-coveted silverware in MLS.

REFEREE: Allen Chapman.
AR1 (bench): Craig Lowry; AR2 (opposite): Jonathan Johnson;
4th: Chris Penso

SUSPENDED: NY: Roy Miller (through 11/30)
WARNINGS (suspended next yellow card): NY: Dax McCarty, Ambroise Oyongo, Bradley Wright-Phillips ... NE: Jose Goncalves

Which team will the series?

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PREMATCH CONTENT:

• How Lee Nguyen, America's forgotten No. 10, made it to MLS
• What favorites? Cahill thinks Red Bulls can get it done at home
• Tactical preview of Revs-Red Bulls in leg 1 | Armchair Analyst
• Revs "a much different team" from one that collapsed in New York
• Red Bulls focus on mitigating impact of Revolution midfield
• WATCH: How Thierry Henry's shifting role saved Red Bulls season
• WATCH: Who must step up for Revs?
• #NYvNE: Tale of the Tape
• Officiating crew named for New York-New England
• Counting down the Top 5 moments in New England vs. New York history
• Lee Nguyen returns to Revs from international duty
• Roy Miller's red card suspension upheld; will miss Leg 2
• 10 minutes with Shep Messing: The Thierry Henry emotional factor & Red Bulls' flaws
• Conference Championship Showdown: MLS Cup on the line for red-hot Revs, explosive Red Bulls
• Revs on the verge of MLS Cup after a three-year turnaround - how did they get here?
• New York face defensive dilemma with Ambroise Oyongo's return from Cameroon duty
• With a taste of USMNT action, Revs star Lee Nguyen refocuses on playoff quest
• Andrew Farrell "ready to go" for starting role in Conference Championship

LEAGUE HEAD-TO-HEAD:
NY 22 wins (2 SO), 105 goals … NE 26 wins (3 SO), 106 goals … Ties 15

2014 HEAD-TO-HEAD: NY 2 wins, 4 goals … NE 0 wins, 1 goals … Ties 0
AT RED BULL ARENA:
8/2: NY 2, NE 1 (McCarty 47; Wright-Phillips 63 - Davies 20)

MLS CUP PLAYOFFS: NE 3 wins, 7 goals … NY 1 win, 3 goals … 2 ties

• DOWNLOAD FULL GAME GUIDE (PDF)

NEW YORK RED BULLS

• The Red Bulls have reached the conference championship for the first time since 2008, when they made their only appearance in MLS Cup. They defeated D.C. United for the first time in five playoff meetings all-time.
• “On a personal point of view, and I’m sure it is the same with [our fans], we haven’t done anything yet,” said Thierry Henry. ... “We were in the same situation last year and lost in the first round so things happen. It will go down in history as the first time we’ve beaten D.C. in the playoffs, but that’s it. We have to go forward, try to concentrate, stay committed in what’s coming next.”
• Peguy Luyindula scored for a second consecutive match in the 2-1 loss in the second leg. He has two goals and two assists in the postseason, involved in four of the Red Bulls' five postseason goals.
• “He’s not doing anything different than he’s done throughout the two years here,” Red Bulls head coach Mike Petke said. “... This year, he’s doing well at the right time. It hasn’t been easy with Peguy all year. He wasn’t always a starter and he wasn’t happy about that, which he shouldn’t [be], but now we’re all, including him, getting the rewards of what he’s doing.”
• Thierry Henry has assisted on four of the Red Bulls’ five goals in the MLS Cup Playoffs this year, and now has a goal and six assists in 12 career postseason games.
• The Red Bulls will be forced into a change at left back for each leg of the conference championship after Roy Miller was sent off in the second leg. Miller will serve a two-game suspension after earlier receiving a yellow card in the match.
• “It’s massive, it’s massive. That’s not the type of player you want to lose,” said Henry. “He’s been great for us, but we’ve had to manage this type of situation all season.” Added Petke: “Roy, I think is the best left back in this league, it’s my opinion. But we have a young guy like [Ambroise] Oyongo who has proved to be ready and capable to play in that position. So we’re OK."
• The Red Bulls continued with Bradley Wright-Phillips as the lone out-and-out striker, and are 7-3-1 in league and cup since moving to that scheme. “You look at that body of work in the second half of the season, there’s a lot of things that we can be proud of,” goalkeeper Luis Robles said. “I feel like as long as we continue to play our brand of soccer, I like our chances regardless.”

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION

• The Revolution have scored seven goals in the MLS Cup Playoffs this year, the most of any team. Their seven goals in the series win vs. Columbus was the most by a team in a two-leg series in MLS history.
• “I wouldn’t say we were building just for the playoffs, you were building to win games through the year. I think we want to go out and play. I think we’re a team that, you have to embrace who you are, and sometimes we push numbers and we go for it,” said Revolution head coach Jay Heaps.
• Lee Nguyen has scored two goals and assisted on another after hitting for his second goal and adding an assist in the second-leg victory.
• “I think the way football is played now is that you need everybody being able to put pressure on and I feel like it starts with the front runners. If we could put pressure on their back line then it causes them to make mistakes and it gets the guys behind us motivated as well to put pressure. So, I feel like the work rate that we start up front correlates and spreads to the whole team,” Teal Bunbury said.
• There was an intriguing tactical switch as wide midfielders Kelyn Rowe and Teal Bunbury changed flanks midway through the first half.
• “It’s not too much different than the right side to be honest,” Bunbury said. "It’s the same defending, you’re getting forward, trying to make runs in behind, keep possession. I felt fine out there.” Added Heaps: “He’s been great all year in terms of the positional change and then we pushed him to the other side, so his soccer sense was really good. And his pace is he’s really fast and he can make the play when he gets there, so that’s what we love about him.”
• Kevin Alston returned to the Revolution lineup at right back after Andrew Farrell suffered a leg injury in training leading up to the second leg. “I thought Kevin (Alston) was excellent with his pace, he really locked down the outside out there,” said Heaps.
• The Revolution have returned to the Eastern Conference Championship for the first time since 2007, and play the first leg at a place where they've haven’t won since 2007, winless on their last 10 trips to face the Red Bulls.
• “It’s going to be a completely different game ... Having watched the last couple of games, against Kansas City and then against D.C., they’re playing obviously a different formation than the last time we played them, so we’ll have to do a little bit different game plan,” said Heaps.