Revolution-Crew Match Preview: Revs Look To Keep Rolling At Home
FOXBORO (CBS) -- The New England Revolution made a surprising run to the Eastern Conference Finals last year, but came up short against the Columbus Crew.
No one will be surprised if the Revs are once again playing for a trip to the MLS Cup in early December. And no one will be surprised if the club continues to exact some revenge against the Crew this weekend.
New England -- the winningest home team in MLS this season at 10-1-1 -- will welcome Columbus to Gillette Stadium for a Saturday night matchup. The Revs haven't had too many issues with the defending champs this season, going 1-0-1 against the Crew in 2021. They claimed a dramatic 1-0 win over Columbus in May thanks to a late game-winner by Adam Buksa off the bench, and played to a 2-2 draw in Columbus in July.
The Crew currently sits in 9th place in the East at 8-11-6, and has won just twice in their last 10 matches, going 2-8-0 over that stretch. But they did win their last match ahead of Saturday's tilt, beating the New York Red Bulls 2-1 on Tuesday night.
The Revs, meanwhile, continued to barrel toward MLS history. New England added to its league-leading 17-4-4 record last weekend with a 2-1 win over New York City FC, and still reign supreme atop the Supporters' Shield standings with a 10-point lead.
With only nine games to go, the Revs can inch closer to clinching a first-round bye with another W on Saturday.
Who's Hot
Tajon Buchanan: He scored his seventh goal of the season and extended his scoring streak to four straight league appearances last weekend with the game-winner over New York City in the 65th minute.
Buchanan also had a team-high three shots on target along with one chance created in his 29 minutes of action.
Carles Gil: MLS' best playmaker is still knocking off some rust after being out or a month, but he dished out another perfect pass for his 16th assist of the season on Buchanan's game-winner last weekend. It was Gil's eighth game-winning assist of the year, moving him into a tie for the most in MLS history.
Gil played just 45 minutes last weekend, but he added five key passes to his MLS-leading total (79) in just 45 minutes on the night.
Matt Polster: Last week against NYCFC, Polster set a new career high with 90 completed passes at 95.7 percent accuracy. The midfielder also registered team highs in recoveries (13), interceptions (2), and clearances (3).
Henry Kessler: The defender won six of his nine duels and had a team-high three blocked shots in his 90 minutes against New York City.
How To Watch
If you're heading to Gillette to see Saturday night's match, parking lots open at 4pm with gates opening at 5:45pm.
If you're watching from home, tune in to our Revolution Kickoff Special at 6:30pm, following by Revs-Crew at 7pm!