HARRISON, N.J. – A two-game road trip wraps up for the New England Revolution on Saturday night at Red Bull Arena, where they’ll visit the longtime rival New York Red Bulls in a critical Eastern Conference showdown.
Seven points separate the Revs (7-6-7, 28 pts.) and Red Bulls (11-5-2, 35 pts.) in the East, and this will be the final regular-season meeting between the sides in 2018.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. with Brad Feldman, Paul Mariner and Naoko Funayama handling the call for NBC Sports Boston, which will televise the match and stream the action on their web site and mobile app. That trio will also have the call on 98.5 The Sports Hub, while Portuguese radio listeners can tune into 1260 AM Nossa Radio USA.
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 6:30 p.m. ET, while Revolution Postgame Live will begin immediately after the final whistle on NBC Sports Boston.
Rob “Hardy” Poole 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.
Once again the Revs will be buoyed by significant traveling support at Red Bull Arena, as approximately 700 fans will make the trip down I-95 as part of the Revolution’s unique Season Membership.
Current Form: Revs aim to rebound after first back-to-back losses of 2018
Head coach Brad Friedel has emphasized throughout his first year in charge of the Revolution that top teams can’t lose consecutive matches, and after suffering back-to-back defeats for the first time this year (20 games into the campaign), he’s looking for a straightforward response on Saturday night.
“A win,” Friedel said when asked what he wants to see from his group at Red Bull Arena. “It’s very, very, very simple.”
In both losses – a shocking late defeat to the LA Galaxy and a midweek setback against Minnesota United FC – Friedel felt his Revs were the better side, only to see individual errors punished in the defensive end, turning what could’ve been six crucial points instead into a source of frustration.
“In the last two games, I absolutely can’t fault the players’ effort,” said Friedel. “I actually can’t fault the quality of soccer that we played. We’ve been very good for most of both the games. We’ve been the victim of our own demise a little bit with five individual errors that cost five goals.
“Now it’s time to really test the mental strength, where we’re going to play a team that we played very well against not too long ago. They like to play an up-tempo game, as do we.”
The Red Bulls have continued to play an up-tempo game under new head coach Chris Armas, who was an assistant to Jesse Marsch when these sides met on June 2 but has since taken over with Marsch departing for a position with Red Bull Leipzig.
Despite a change at the top, Friedel expects a similar approach from the Red Bulls, who are currently fourth in the MLS standings on points-per-game having gone 8-2-2 in their last 12 league games.
“I’ve known Chris a long, long time, and he’s been part of the staff here (with the Red Bulls),” said Friedel. “We’re not expecting too many differences from them, and I’m sure they’re not going to be expecting too many differences from us.”
Past Meetings: Revs in search of elusive first regular-season win at Red Bull Arena
Diego Fagundez and Teal Bunbury were on target as the Revs claimed a come-from-behind win over the Red Bulls just seven weeks ago at Gillette Stadium, New England’s fourth win over New York in their last five meetings in Foxborough.
HIGHLIGHTS: Fagundez, Bunbury lead Revolution’s comeback against Red Bulls
The Revs haven’t had the same kind of success at Red Bull Arena, however, as they’re still searching for their first regular-season win at the venue that opened in 2010. New England have suffered eight losses in their nine regular-season visits to Harrison, including a 2-1 setback in the most recent trip last May.
But there was, of course, that memorable visit to RBA in November 2014, when the Revs claimed a 2-1 victory in the first leg of the Eastern Conference Championship en route to a conference title and a trip to MLS Cup.
Injury Report: Suspended trio back in the mix; Angking makes 18 for first time
The return of a key trio will give the Revolution a significant boost this weekend as Luis Caicedo, Antonio Delamea and Cristian Penilla are all eligible to return after serving one-game suspensions on Wednesday night in Minnesota.
All three have been regular starters for the Revs, and their availability gives Friedel not only more options on Saturday night, but also fresh bodies at the end of a three-game week.
“We spoke [on Wednesday night], we spoke again [on Thursday] morning and we’ll speak again this evening about what team we want to put out on the field,” said Freidel. “But it gives us a full complement of players to choose from.”
One of those players who’s available to choose from is 18-year-old Homegrown midfielder Isaac Angking, who was part of the Revolution’s 18-man matchday squad for the first time on Wednesday night in Minnesota.
Final Thoughts: “This game means a lot to everyone”
“I saw that this game means a lot to everyone in the locker room, and also to the fans,” Antonio Delamea said of his experiences with the NE-NY rivalry. “I still remember last year how many fans came to that game, and I hope there will be a few this year, too, because we really need their support.”
