The New England Revolution face the Philadelphia Union as they look to stave off elimination in Game 2 of their first-round series at Gillette Stadium.
Goals from Daniel Gazdag, Mikael Uhre and Nathan Harriel gave Philadelphia a 3-1 victory in the first game of Round One of the 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs.
New England can take comfort in that they have only tasted defeat once in their last six home matches against the Union including a come-from-behind 2-1 win less than three weeks ago.
Should the Revolution win, Game 3 would be Sunday afternoon in Philadelphia.
Team news
Captain Carles Gil, defender Henry Kessler and defenders Tommy McNamara, Ian Harkes and Damian Rivera are all available for selection.
Brandon Bye (ACL) and Dylan Borrero (knee) are long-term absentees.
Center-back Jakob Glesnes will miss out after undergoing an operation for a sports hernia while Julian Carranza is battling a hamstring injury.
Tai Baribo missed Game 1 with a bad back and left-back Kai Wagner was issued a three-match ban for using a racial slur against Bobby Wood, depriving Philadelphia of one of the best defenders in the league.
Predicted lineups
New England Revolution: Jackson; Spaulding, Romney, Farrell, Jones; Kaye, Polster; Chancalay, C. Gil, Buck; Bou
Philadelphia Union: Blake; Wagner, Elliott, Lowe, Harriel; McGlynn, Gazdag, Martinez, Bedoya; Uhre, Carranza
Ones to watch
Carles Gil (New England Revolution)
After being forced off with an injury during New England's Game 1 defeat, Gil has been cleared to play, a welcome boost for the Revolution ahead of this must-win game.
With a career-high 11 goals and 15 assists (the third-most in MLS), he also leads the Revolution shots (77), shots on target, key passes (88) and dribbles (80) while having six goal involvements in his last nine games.
The threat of Gil's playmaking will test a depleted Philadelphia back-line.
Andre Blake (Philadelphia Union)
The three-time MLS Goalkeeper of the Year didn't have much to do in Game 1 but came up big as New England pushed for a second, denying Bobby Wood late in the second half.
Still playing at an extremely high level, Blake will be needed to continue performing like that and should this match be decided in a shootout, the Jamaican could prove to be the deciding factor.
Previous meetings
Philadelphia defeated New England in Game 1 a week after blowing a lead against the Revolution on Decision Day.
The Union would take the lead from the penalty spot after VAR reversed a non-call from New England goalkeeper Jacob Jackson colliding with Julian Carranza and Daniel Gazdag buried his spot kick.
In the 26th minute, Philadelphia doubled their advantage after the ball took a couple of bad bounces and fell to defender Dave Romney, who deflected it to Jackson and after he parried, Mikael Uhre was on hand to tap home.
Nathan Harriel created and scored the hosts' third as he drew a foul on Thomas Chancalay then finished Wagner's free-kick with a header at the back post.
New England would pick up a consolation goal as Bou was found in space and got past Harriel and Jack Elliott before finishing into the roof of the net.
How to watch
The match will be televised nationally on Fox Sports 1 with Nate Bukaty serving as the play-by-play announcer and Tony Meola as the analyst.
Apple TV + has live streaming coverage as Chris Wittyngham (play-by-play) and Lori Lindsey (analyst) will call the action.
Kickoff is set for 7pm Eastern time.