New England Revolution vs Atlanta United

Gillette Stadium forms the backdrop for a pivotal Major League Soccer encounter between New England Revolution and Atlanta United.

New England succumbed to a humiliating 5-1 home defeat to Columbus Crew at the weekend, relinquishing a superb four-game winning streak while losing further ground on the playoff spots in the Eastern Conference. Stuck second from bottom in the east, the Revs trail 9th-placed Atlanta United by five points, yet they do have two games in hand. With that in mind, this is a seemingly presentable opportunity for Caleb Porter’s side to bridge the gap, especially considering they’ve emerged victorious from the last three MLS H2Hs they hosted. Despite their outstanding home run against Atlanta, the hosts can’t take anything for granted after delivering a mixed bag of performances across their last seven home league outings (W3, L4).

Meanwhile, visiting Atlanta United went above and beyond to defeat star-studded Toronto 2-1 at home over the weekend, upholding their mini-revival (W2, D2) following a rotten run of winning just once in 11 MLS fixtures (D4, L6). But despite clawing their way into the playoff zone, the Five Stripes can ill-afford to lose their grip on reality as they boast a slender two-point lead on 10th-placed Montreal. On the upside, Rob Valentino’s men are unbeaten across their last four MLS travels (W2, D2), largely thanks to their newly discovered defensive resilience. They conceded under 1.5 goals on each occasion, bolstering their hopes of ending a disappointing run of conceding precisely two goals in three consecutive away meetings with New England.