DC United (3-19-6) will travel to Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts, to face fellow eastern conference member New England Revolution (10-11-7) Saturday night. Coming off an impressive, hard-fought draw against the Los Angeles Galaxy, DC United will hope to secure three points and build some momentum to carry them through the final stretch of the season.
After fighting back twice to secure a 2-2 draw and a point against the Galaxy, DC United will have their sights set a little higher. DC will catch the Revolution, who has lost their last two matches, at a vulnerable slide in their form. Saturday night’s match will be the third time these teams have met this season. The first match resulted in a 0-0 draw, and the second in a 2-1 New England win.
While DC United should come in confident in this match, they will have to be very cautious of the Revolution’s attacking presence in Kelyn Rowe, Diego Fagundez, and Juan Agudelo. The Revolution’s young attacking trio has combined for 25 goals this season. However, New England has conceded seven goals in their last two matches. DC United must take advantage of the stumbling backline of the Revolution to get the win.
With the return of midfield man, Chris Pontius, to the starting lineup, DC should feel more confident in holding the ball and moving forward in attack. Pontius and Perry Kitchen should be able to pull the strings against a struggling New England team. The link up play between the DC United midfield with Dwayne De Rosario and Luis Silva will be crucial. Conor Doyle could be called to make an impact in this match from the bench. Doyle came off the bench in the 2-2 draw against the Galaxy. After the match, DC coach Ben Olsen said, “In particular off the bench, he really understands what we want from him and he finds himself in the right spots. He plays simple and knows when to get in the box and knows how to work that area.”
Projected XI for DC United (4-4-1-1):
De Rosario
Silva
Porter, Pontius, Kitchen, DeLeon
Riley, Jakovic, White, Korb
Hamid
(image courtesy of dcunited.com)
