New England Revolution vs. Columbus Crew SC | 2018 MLS Match Preview

Dylan Butler

New England Revolution vs. Columbus Crew SC
2018 MLS Regular Season – Week 12
Gillette Stadium — Foxborough
May 19 - 7:30 pm ET
WATCH: ESPN+, MLS LIVE on DAZN (Canada)

Looking for MLS LIVE? It's now on ESPN+. Sign up for a free trial!

Columbus Crew SC bring their five-match unbeaten streak to Gillette Stadium where the New England Revolution are 4-1-1 this season in an Eastern Conference clash Saturday night.

Crew SC have won three of their last four, including a 3-0 victory over the Chicago Fire on Saturday to move into second place in the Eastern Conference, while the Revolution have won two of their last three, beating Toronto FC, 3-2, in Foxborough, Saturday night.

It is the second meeting between the sides, who played to a 2-2 draw at MAPFRE Stadium on April 21. The Crew have won just two of their last 10 trips to New England including the postseason (6L-2D), per Opta.

New England Revolution

Brad Friedel made four changes to the team that fell to the Montreal Impact, 4-2, the previous week with Chris Tierney and Antonio Delamea starting in the four-man backline, Scott Caldwell replacing Wilfried Zahibo and Kelyn Rowe earning his third start for the injured Juan Agudelo.

The response to the defeat was terrific for New England (5-3-2), who raced out to a 2-0 lead on a Cristian Penilla brace inside of seven minutes. Teal Bunbury scored his fifth goal of the season one minute into the second half to extend the Revs lead before Toronto FC rallied to pull within a goal following a Delamea own goal and a late Sebastian Giovinco penalty kick.

“In my playing career, the most successful coaches and the best coaches always said the best teams never lost two in a row,” Friedel said after the match. “i think if you live by that, you can start to get runs together and have successful seasons. … I think this was another really good character check on our team after that second half performance against Montreal."

Suspended: M - Diego Fagundez
Suspended after next caution: None
International duty: None
Injury Report: OUT: M - Isaac Angking (illness); QUESTIONABLE: F - Juan Agudelo (hamstring injury)

Projected Starting XI
(4-4-1-1, right to left)
GK: Matt Turner — Andrew Farrell, Antonio Delamea, Jalil Anibaba, Chris Tierney — Cristian Penilla, Luis Caicedo, Wilfried Zahibo, Kelyn Rowe — Scott Caldwell — Teal Bunbury

Notes: All three of Zahibo’s goals this season have come from set pieces, tied for the second most of any MLS player. … The Revolution have won 11 of their last 14 home games (1L-2D). New England has scored multiple goals in 10 of those games. Only Atlanta United (14) has scored multiple goals in more home games since July 2017.

Columbus Crew SC

Gregg Berhalter rotated half of starting XI from the team that defeated Philadelphia, 1-0, in the midweek, with Josh Williams and Hector Jimenez starting in the four-man backline, Ricardo Clark replacing Wil Trapp in the midfield, Federico Higuain and Pedro Santos returning to their regular spots in the midfield and Mike Grella earning his first start of the season in favor of Cristian Martinez.

Higuain put Columbus (6-3-3) in front from the penalty spot after Gyasi Zardes was pulled down by Kevin Ellis in the box and then Zardes struck for a second-half brace as Crew SC celebrated a second straight win, and third match without conceding.

“When I look at what this group is made of, you think about Wednesday – us having the youngest team in club history, and tonight we had one of the older teams in club history. It just shows that everyone can step up,” Berhalter said after the match. “Everyone can play a part. I think tonight was a good example of veteran leadership, of guys having performances that help the team when a game. I think the whole week was a successful week.”

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: None
International duty: None
Injury Report: QUESTIONABLE: M - Pedro Santos (hamstring injury)

Projected Starting XI
(4-2-3-1, right to left)
GK: Zack Steffen — Harrison Afful, Jonathan Mensah, Lalas Abubakar, Milton Valenzuela — Artur, Wil Trapp — Niko Hansen, Federico Higuain, Mike Grella — Gyasi Zardes

Notes: Zardes is averaging a goal every 132.3 minutes for Columbus this season. In his five seasons with the LA Galaxy, he averaged a goal every 312.0 minutes. … The Crew is unbeaten in their last five league matches (3W-2D) and have kept clean sheets in their last three MLS games - one off the franchise record of four (set from Mar. 26-Apr. 27, 2011).

All-Time Series

Overall: New England Revolution 23 wins, 88 goals … Columbus Crew SC 35 wins, 109 goals … 13 ties
At New England: Revolution 15 wins, 49 goals … Crew SC 15 wins, 43 goals … 6 ties
Last meeting at New England: New England Revolution 2, Columbus Crew SC 1 (May 21, 2017)