Two teams who find themselves at opposite ends of their Major League Soccer conferences will do battle on Saturday, as New England Revolution entertain Sporting Kansas City.
Following an eye-catching start to the season, the hosts currently sit at the summit of the Eastern Conference, while their visitors find themselves bottom of the Western Conference with just three points on the board from their opening eight games.
Match preview
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After a disappointing MLS campaign last time around, in which they missed out on the playoffs with a 10th-placed finish in the Eastern Conference, New England Revolution have certainly enjoyed a much stronger start to the new season, currently sitting atop their division after eight rounds of games.
In those matches, Bruce Arena's men have earned 19 points, having only suffered one defeat, albeit a 4-0 beating at the hands of Los Angeles FC in mid-March.
Since that setback, the Revs have built a five-match unbeaten run starting with back-to-back triumphs over Nashville SC and DC United, before playing out a 1-1 draw with New York City FC and thrashing Montreal CF 4-0.
Dylan Borrero, Carles Gil, Bobby Wood and Giacomo Vrioni all got on the scoresheet in that triumph, before they most recently took on Columbus Crew away from home and came away with a point from a 1-1 draw, albeit in disappointing fashion as Sean Zawadzki equalised for the hosts deep into injury time after the Revs looked set to see out a 1-0 victory with 10 men following Borrero's 65th-minute red card.
While they may be somewhat deflated after being forced to share the spoils in the dying embers of that contest, Arena's men can certainly be pleased with their campaign thus far and will look to further strengthen their position in the leading pack with what would be a sixth MLS win of the season on Saturday.
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Their visitors, meanwhile, have had to endure a totally contrasting start to their term, with Sporting Kansas City yet to find their feet in the 2023 iteration of Major League Soccer.
In their eight matches thus far, the Wizards have failed to put a single win on the board, while only managing three points courtesy of three stalemates.
It is in attack where Peter Vermes's side have particularly struggled, having only managed two goals in the MLS so far, both of which came in defeats in late March, before they played out a goalless draw away at Philadelphia Union and suffered back-to-back losses again heading into the weekend.
Following a 1-0 defeat at home to Colorado Rapids, Vermes's men most recently travelled to take on San Jose Earthquakes and were on the wrong end of a 3-0 beating, as Cristian Espinoza opened the scoring early for the hosts before Jeremy Ebobisse netted goals quickly either side of the interval in a dominant home display.
Now already five points behind the top nine and seven points worse off than Houston Dynamo in the top seven, the Wizards will be desperate to avoid being cut adrift this season and will go in search of a much-needed first win to keep up with the sides who will be fighting for playoff places at the end of the term.
Team News
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New England Revolution come into Saturday's contest without winger Dylan Borrero, who will serve a suspension after he was sent off in their meeting with Columbus Crew last time out.
Emmanuel Boateng will likely come into the attacking unit in his absence, while Gustavo Bou and Bobby Wood both missed the Columbus Crew contest, leaving plenty of responsibility on frontman Giacomo Vrioni and captain Carles Gil, who has contributed two goals and an assist in the MLS so far this term.
Further back, Latif Blessing should again join Matt Polster at the base of the midfield in a 4-2-3-1 setup with Dave Romney and Andrew Farrell lining up in the middle of a back four.
Sporting Kansas City also have a suspension to contend with, after centre-back Robert Castellanos was sent off in the first half of their loss to San Jose Earthquakes last weekend.
Andreu Fontas was called off the bench to fill in at the back after that dismissal, and he should come in from the outset on Saturday alongside Daniel Rosero, with Robert Voloder and Graham Zusi completing the back four.
Remi Walter is a mainstay in midfield and should again be joined by Erik Thommy and Felipe Hernandez, while William Agada and Daniel Salloi are the only Wizards players to score in the MLS so far this season and should both feature in the front three, likely alongside Johnny Russell.
New England Revolution possible starting lineup:
Petrovic; Bye, Farrell, Romney, Jones; Blessing, Polster; Bajraktarevic, Gil, Boateng; Vrioni
Sporting Kansas City possible starting lineup:
Melia; Zusi, Rosero, Fontas, Voloder; Thommy, Walter, Hernandez; Russell, Agada, Salloi
We say: New England Revolution 2-0 Sporting Kansas City
Although the Revs are missing some important players in attack, the contrasting fortunes only point towards a relatively straightforward home win at the weekend.
The visitors have only managed two goals so far this season and are lacking any confidence or momentum to pull off an upset on their travels.
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Top tip
Sam Varley
