MLS Regular Season | Match #1
New England Revolution at Charlotte FC
Saturday, February 25 | 7:30 p.m. ET
Bank of America Stadium | Charlotte, N.C.
Watch: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV (FREE on MLS is Back opening weekend)
Listen: 98.5 The Sports Hub HD2 (English), 1260 AM Nossa Radio (Portuguese)
CURRENT FORM
New England Revolution
2022 Season | 10th in Eastern Conference (10-12-12, 42 pts.)
It was always going to be difficult to follow the Revolution’s record-breaking 2021 campaign in which they established a new MLS single-season points record (73), but few could have predicted New England missing out on the playoffs entirely as they did in 2022, finishing 10th in the Eastern Conference. The arrival of goalkeeper Djordje Petrović helped mitigate the midseason departure of Matt Turner, but injuries to key attacking pieces like Gustavo Bou, Dylan Borrero, and Giacomo Vrioni proved too much for the Revolution to overcome.
Several new pieces have joined the fray for 2023, including MLS veterans like Latif Blessing (Los Angeles FC), Dave Romney (Nashville SC), and Bobby Wood (Real Salt Lake), as well as exciting youngsters like No. 4 overall SuperDraft pick Joshua Bolma and 18-year-old Homegrown signing Jack Panayotou. Romney, Wood, and Panayotou all started as the Revs finished out their preseason schedule with a 2-1 win over Orlando City SC last Saturday night at Exploria Stadium.
Charlotte FC
2022 Season | 9th in Eastern Conference (13-18-3, 42 pts.)
The 2022 newcomers also missed out on the playoffs in their inaugural year, recovering from a midseason coaching change to finish one place higher than the Revolution (ninth) in the East. Charlotte can nevertheless be proud of their introduction to MLS, having racked up 10 home wins at Bank of America Stadium while being bolstered by Polish international forward Karol Świderski, who led the team in both goals (10) and assists (6).
Saturday night will be a particularly emotional evening in Charlotte, where the hosts are anticipating more than 60,000 fans in the house to honor Anton Walkes, a 25-year-old defender who tragically passed away on January 19 in the midst of Charlotte’s preseason preparations. Walkes spent four seasons in MLS with both Charlotte and Atlanta United.
KEY PLAYERS
Revolution goalkeeper Djordje Petrović
The addition of center back Dave Romney could prove significant as the Revs aim to tighten up defensively in 2023, but it’s tough to look past the impact of 23-year-old goalkeeper Djordje Petrović. The young Serbian finished second in MLS Goalkeeper of the Year voting last year despite playing in just 21 games, and also took home honors as the Revolution’s Team MVP after saving a club record four penalty kicks.
Petrović is the type of goalkeeper that can singlehandedly keep his side in a game – as he did multiple times in 2022 – and he may well need to be at his sharpest on Saturday night with Charlotte likely to throw numbers forward in their eagerness to impress the massive home crowd.
Charlotte FC forward Karol Świderski
Karol Świderski returns for a second season in Charlotte after making his FIFA World Cup debut this past November, starting in Poland’s group stage loss to eventual champions Argentina. The 26-year-old burst onto the scene last year with 10 goals and six assists for Charlotte, appearing in 30 of the club’s 34 games.
Świderski’s best showing of 2022 came against the Revolution as he bagged two goals and one assist in Charlotte’s first-ever win, a 3-1 triumph over New England on March 19. One week ago, in Charlotte’s final preseason match, Świderski had one goal and one assist in a 3-2 win over the Birmingham Legion.
STATUS REPORT
Revolution
The trio of Andrew Farrell, Nacho Gil, and Tommy McNamara will be unavailable for this weekend’s season opener after all three missed the preseason finale, while Maciel (Achilles) and Jacob Jackson (ACL) continue to recover from long-term injuries that required surgery last season. Jozy Altidore and Latif Blessing, both of whom also missed the preseason finale, have resumed training and are not on the Revolution’s official availability report.
Gustavo Bou, meanwhile, is listed as questionable, as sporting director and head coach Bruce Arena noted that the Argentine forward is expected to arrive in New England this weekend.
Charlotte FC
The hosts list four players as out for Saturday’s opener: Vinicius Mello, Guzmán Corujo, Kristijan Kahlina, and Adam Armour. Corujo (25 starts) and Kahlina (31 starts) were stalwarts for Charlotte during their expansion season, but begin the 2023 campaign on the sidelines.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
New England Revolution sporting director and head coach Bruce Arena
“Every [preseason] game, the effort and the concentration was a little bit better, and game five was supposed to be a dry run for the opening game of the MLS season. We were building towards that, and we were at our best on Saturday in Orlando. Still not good enough, obviously, for the regular season, but we’ll make progress this week and hopefully be in good shape on Saturday.”
New England Revolution defender DeJuan Jones
“We want to get back to where we were in 2021, so each and every day working hard, continuing to make the team better and challenge each other in practice. We have a lot of great additions to the team this year, so everyone’s fighting for positions, so it’s been really good this year.”
