For the final time in the 2017 MLS season, the New England Revolution will hit the road to Yankee Stadium to take on a New York City FC side who are looking for their third consecutive victory.
The last meeting between the two Eastern Conference sides saw New England equalize late in the match to cap off an exciting night in the Bronx. NYCFC youngster Jack Harrison opened the scoring about a quarter of an hour into the match before Kei Kamara equalized just a few moments later. NYCFC substitute Miguel Camargo gave NYCFC the lead for the second time on the night. Unfortunately for NYCFC and their supporters, the Revs equalized yet again as Xavier Kouassi scored his first and so far only goal of the MLS season and each side had to go home with just one point.
Team News
New York City FC: The New York City side has had injury problems for a large portion of the MLS season. Despite the injury list shortening, NYCFC will still be without six of their players on Sunday.
Three of the six players who will be missing Sunday's game are forced to the sideline with injuries. One of these players is Panamanian international, Miguel Camargo, who scored his only MLS goal to date in the first meeting between the two clubs earlier in the season. Camargo picked up a non-displaced hip fracture while on international duty with his country at the CONCACAF Gold Cup where he showed the world his potential.
Another player who has a long term injury and will continue to miss time is Costa Rican fullback Ronald Matarrita. The 23-year-old had foot surgery after picking up an injury in NYCFC's win over Minnesota United FC in late June. Matarrita will be hoping to return with his side in the late weeks of the MLS season. The final injured player for Vieira's men is Maxime Chanot. The defender is suffering from osteitis pubis inflammation and will be a big miss for a leaky NYCFC defense.
Despite a shrunken injury list, NYCFC still have three more men not available for selection on Sunday. The first, and probably most insignificant is James Sands. The teenager who recently became NYCFC's first ever homegrown will be in Prague with his U.S u17 teammates as they prepare for the u17 FIFA World Cup which will take place in India and will begin in October.
Two suspensions for the boys in blue this weekend as both Alex Ring and Ethan White will be serving their one game suspension they picked up through yellow card accumulation. Ethan White will just add to the list of defenders not available for selection on Sunday while Ring's absence will cause a hole in the midfield that Vieira will look to fill up. Maxi Moralez, who served his one game suspension last weekend that he also picked up from yellow card accumulation will return to the NYCFC lineup on Sunday night.
New England Revolution: The Revs team news is much more positive than their opponents, as the New England side are one of just two MLS clubs who do not have a single player missing due to injury.
To add to that, New England supporters may even see a few new players compete for the first time in a Revs kit. Both Krisztián Németh and Calude Dielna could make debuts for the New England team.
Key Facts
Full strength. No excuses for the Revs if they come up short on Sunday as the club has a full roster available for selection including two new signings who both have the potential to help their new side. Németh is already familiar with MLS as he played with Sporting Kansas City in the past. The forward is capable of completely changing a game with just one run. The exciting Hungarian international will hope he was the missing piece needed to lead Revs back into the playoff race.
For a second straight week, NYCFC will be missing a key player in the side's dominant midfield trio. Suspensions and injuries are amongst the most popular reasons why Maxi Moralez, Yangel Herrera and Alex Ring have rarely lined up together this season despite being unbeaten when they together. Ring will be the only player in the trio who will not be avalable for selection on Sunday. All three players have now served a suspension this season and NYCFC will hope the three can lineup together next match as the club will head to New Jersey to take on Hudson River Derby rival, the New York Red Bulls.
What's Next?
Following Sunday's match against the Revs, NYCFC will prepare to take on the New York Red Bulls. NYCFC have won both Hudson River Derby matches in MLS play this season and will look for the season sweep as they take on the Red Bulls at Red Bull Arena in a Friday night rivalry match. Following the match against the Red Bulls, NYCFC will have another tough task as they will host Sporting Kansas City who currently sit top of the Western Conference. Sporting KC have arguably the best backline in MLS and will have to be on top of their game if they want to slow down David Villa and the rest of his NYCFC teammates.
The Revs will be on the road once again following Sunday's match in the Bronx as they will travel to RFK Stadium to take on D.C. United. That match will see the two Eastern Conference teams at the bottom of the table battle it out in hopes of finding a rare three points. Following the game in D.C. the Revs will have back-to-back home games as they'll welcome both Orlando City SC and the Montreal Impact to Gillette Stadium to start the month of September.