FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Two teams mired in the playoff race will meet in a massive early September match on Saturday night at Gillette Stadium, where the New England Revolution will host the Portland Timbers.
New England (7-10-8, 29 pts.) sit four points below the playoff line in the Eastern Conference – although they have two games in hand on the sixth-place Montreal Impact – while Portland (11-7-7, 40 pts.) just climbed back above the line in the Western Conference with a midweek win over Toronto FC.
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. on Saturday night with NBC Sports Boston televising the match and streaming the action live on NBCSportsBoston.com and the NBC Sports Boston mobile app. Radio listeners can tune into 98.5 The Sports Hub for the English call with Brad Feldman, Paul Mariner and Naoko Funayama, while 1260 AM Nossa Radio USA will have the call in Portuguese.
Elizabeth Pehota and Jeff Lemieux will break down the starting lineups and storylines on Revolution Pregame LIVE, streaming on the Revs’ official Facebook page at 7 p.m. ET, while Revolution Postgame Live will begin immediately after the final whistle on NBC Sports Boston.
Matt McCarthy and former Revolution midfielder Clyde Simms will handle postgame duties on 98.5 The Sports Hub, taking calls for 30 minutes after the final whistle.
Fans attending the match are encouraged to bring new party supplies for donation to the Confetti Foundation. Collection bins will be located at all Gillette Stadium gates, and those who donate will receive a New England Revolution Charitable Foundation pennant.
Saturday night’s match also kicks off Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and the evening will feature several gold-themed elements, including a commemorative gold adidas Nativo match ball, gold nets, gold corner flags, and gold ribbons on all players’ jerseys.
Current Form: Revs still believe despite vexing run of results; Timbers back on track
Last weekend’s 1-0 loss to the Philadelphia Union stretched the Revs’ winless run to eight games (0-6-2), but it was another performance in which head coach Brad Friedel felt his side deserved to take more from the match, as a string of stellar saves from Union goalkeeper Andre Blake kept the Revolution at bay.
HIGHLIGHTS: Blake’s second-half heroics deny Revs at Talen Energy Stadium
The frustrating stretch has dropped the Revs to seventh in the East heading into the final two months of the regular season, but they remain confident that they have the talent and the drive to put together a late-season run and secure their first playoff berth since 2015.
“We’re still not out of it, and we need to know that,” said Diego Fagundez. “There are nine more games left and we know that every game is going to be a final for us. I wouldn’t say it’s the best scenario, but for us, if we can get this stretch going, get momentum going, then we can get into the playoffs with a little momentum.”
Portland have experienced a rollercoaster first season under head coach Giovanni Savarese. After beginning the year winless in five (0-3-2), the Timbers ripped off a 15-game unbeaten run (10-0-5), only to follow that up with a string of four straight losses.
A midweek win over Toronto FC helped get the Timbers back on track and pushed them back above the playoff line in the West, but now the Revs will aim to take advantage of Portland’s potentially tired legs after making the cross-country trek to Foxborough on short rest.
“They’re going to have to make a cross-country trip and they’ll have their third game in seven days, so we’ll have to look at a few things along those lines,” said Friedel. “They are a very good team, but also a streaky team.”
Much like Philadelphia last weekend Portland are led by a strong midfield, highlighted by 2017 MLS MVP Diego Valeri and gritty Colombian midfielder Diego Chara.
“I think their midfield is one of the strongest midfields in the league,” said Juan Agudelo. “That’s an area where we’re going to have to shut them down.”
Past Meetings: Five of eight previous meetings have finished all square
Saturday night’s matchup will be the first meeting between the Revs and Timbers in 17 months, a 1-1 draw at Providence Park last April. That result continued a trend between these two sides, as five of the eight all-time meetings have finished in draws, including four of the last five contests.
WATCH: Three Numbers That Matter | Timbers’ travel, Chara’s influence, rare meeting
New England have beaten Portland just once – in Jay Heaps’ first match in charge back in March 2012 – but they are unbeaten against the Timbers at Gillette Stadium (1-0-3).
Injury Report: Bunbury “should be fine” ahead of Timbers’ visit to Foxborough
Teal Bunbury missed his first game of the season last weekend as the Revs fell in Philly, the club’s leading goal scorer sidelined by a minor hamstring injury.
Bunbury and his 11 goals are hoping to be back in the mix on Saturday night, however, as Friedel described the decision to keep Bunbury off the Philadelphia trip as more precautionary than anything else.
WATCH: Training Report: Bunbury injury update, Segbers returns, and much more
“Teal should be fine,” Friedel said when asked about the striker’s status on Tuesday morning. “As I said during the pre-match in Philadelphia, we hope to have him this weekend.
“He just had a slight irritation in his knee, which then gave him a little bit of pain in his hamstring. There was no tear or anything of that nature, and we thought it would be prudent not to risk losing him for 4-6 weeks and rest him for the week.”
Final Thoughts: Revs anticipating an “intense game for all 90 minutes”
“It’s going to be an intense game; it’s going to feel like we’re in the last minute of the game, I feel, from the start,” rookie Brandon Bye said of Saturday night’s pivotal match. “Everybody’s going to have the urgency that we need a win, they need a win, so it’s going to be an exciting and intense game for all 90 minutes.”
