New England Revolution vs. LA Galaxy | 2018 MLS Match Preview

Dylan Butler

New England Revolution vs. LA Galaxy
2018 MLS Regular Season — Week 20
Gillette Stadium — Foxborough
July 14 - 7:30 pm ET
WATCH: ESPN+, MLS LIVE on DAZN (Canada)

Two teams who haven’t lost since May square off at Gillette Stadium when the New England Revolution put their seven-match unbeaten streak on the line against the LA Galaxy, unbeaten in five themselves.

The Revs are coming off a goalless draw against Seattle Sounders FC, while the Galaxy pounded Columbus Crew SC, 4-0, at home Saturday.

New England Revolution

The good news for New England (7-4-7) is the 0-0 draw against Seattle at Gillette Stadium extended an unbeaten streak to seven games and was the first clean sheet since a 1-0 win over Sporting Kansas City on April 28. However, of the seven games without defeat, there have been five draws.

While the Sounders bunkered down defensively and proved difficult to break down, Revs coach Brad Friedel knows the Galaxy will bring a different tact to Foxborough Saturday night.

“I think with the players they have they are going to go forward and try to score a little more than what Seattle did. In saying that, they do hit an incredible amount of long balls, very uncharacteristic of the Los Angeles Galaxy teams in the past,” Friedel said. “More times than not, [David] Bingham hits the ball long so it could turn into a little bit of a second ball game, but saying that there will be more space for us to attack.”

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: D - Antonio Delamea
International duty: None
Injury Report: OUT: M - Isaac Angking (illness), D - Chris Tierney (torn right ACL), F - Femi Hollinger-Janzen (dislocated elbow)

Projected Starting XI
(4-2-3-1, right to left)
GK: Matt Turner — Andrew Farrell, Antonio Delamea, Jalil Anibaba, Claude Dielna — Luis Caicedo, Scott Candwell — Kelyn Rowe, Diego Fagundez, Cristian Penilla — Teal Bunbury

LA Galaxy

The LA Galaxy (7-7-4) took another first-half lead, but this time they not only made sure it held up, but tacked on in a comprehensive 4-0 victory over Crew SC at StubHub Center Saturday night.

After Ola Kamara scored three minutes before halftime, Zlatan Ibrahimovic struck from the penalty spot to put the Galaxy in front, 2-0 in the 56th minute. In a rare reserve stint, Romain Alessandrini scored a late brace to seal the win.

“He came in and scored two very good goals. The second one was a great goal,” Sigi Schmid said of Alessandrini. “He also contributed when he came in, not just on the goal, he was disciplined about helping us out defensively. I was probably equally as pleased by that as I was about his offensive display. But certainly, he gave us a really good spark off the bench.”

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: None
International duty: None
Injury Report: OUT: D - Rolf Feltscher (shoulder surgery); QUESTIONABLE: M - Sebastian Lletget (ankle injury)

Projected Starting XI
(4-2-3-1, right to left)
GK: David Bingham — Dave Romney, Michael Ciani, Jorgen Skjelvik, Ashley Cole — Perry Kitchen, Jonathan dos Santos — Chris Pontius, Giovani dos Santos, Ola Kamara — Zlatan Ibrahimovic

All-Time Series

Overall: New England Revolution 16 wins, 64 goals … LA Galaxy 18 wins, 69 goals … 7 draws
At New England: Revolution 11 wins, 40 goals … Galaxy 6 wins, 30 goals … 3 draws
Last meeting at New England: New England Revolution 4, LA Galaxy 3 (July 22, 2017)