NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION vs. MNUFC
Gillette Stadium | Foxborough, Massachusetts
06.19.2022 | MLS Week No. 14 | MLS Game No. 15
4:00 p.m. CT (MLS Live on ESPN+, Bally Sports North App, The CW - Twin Cities, 1500 ESPN)

Four different Loons found the back of the net on Saturday night in an exciting international friendly against 2. Bundesliga side, SC Paderborn 07. The game was full of exciting moments including a game-winner from Aziel Jackson that marked his first MNUFC goal and secured a final scoreline of 4-3. After two weeks off, the MLS season resumes for the Loons this weekend with an away game against the reigning MLS Supporters' Shield winners, New England Revolution. Currently, both teams are sitting in eighth place of their respective conference and looking to secure a spot in the top seven. The two teams have only met three times with the Revs winning twice and the Loons winning once. While New England currently has a slight historical edge, the teams have not met since 2020, and MNUFC is fresh off of a rejuvenating win, while the Revs will have a mid-week match to recover from. Hopefully, after some time off and the return of five Loons from international duty, MNUFC will kick off the (almost) second half of their season with a win. MORE

ADRIAN HEATH ON NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION PLAYING MIDWEEK MATCH BEFORE SUNDAY'S CONTEST...

“Well I think that they’ll [New England] look at it that you can bend one or two of their new players in, [Dylan] Borrero especially looks to be a really good player at the weekend. Obviously Carles Gil and [Gustavo] Bou are quality players in this league. And this is a team that obviously have lost a couple of pieces but they’re Supporters’ Shield winners last year and were one of the favorites and were excellent last year, so I think we know it’s going to be difficult. It’s never easy at Foxborough, but this is probably the best team that that they’ve had when we’ve gone there to play against. Then we go to Miami and then we go to Galaxy, so we’ve got three on the road – it’s a difficult stretch – but let’s hope we got a bit of confidence from the last game.” MORE

KEMAR LAWRENCE ON HOW THE TEAM IS GETTING READY TO RETURN TO MLS PLAY...

“I feel like that game [versus SC Paderborn] kind of helps because the opponent that we played, the quality was high. They brought a lot and to see us matchup with them and us winning that game, it tells us a lot about our self. But, it’s different. It’s not a real game. So, especially when you’re going to play a well-coached team, a team with a lot of senior guys, they just know what they’re doing. You got to be on your game. I emphasize that we’re not. We haven’t been picking up the points we need and we have to go there [to New England] and we’ve got to make it hard for them to play in their own stadium and we’ve got to get points.” MORE

STORYLINES PRESENTED BY BMW

• FORGOT THE BUSKA: While New England has achieved four points from six in their games since the international break, they’ve done so despite a significant change to their squad. Polish international striker and Designated Player Adam Buksa transferred to RC Lens in France during the international break, with his final appearance for New England coming in their 3-2 win over FC Cincinnati on May 21. Buksa was New England’s highest goalscorer this season with seven goals in ten appearances, and finished tied for fifth in the MLS Golden Boot race with 16 goals in 2021, also best on the Revs. It’s not that New England is short of threats other than Buksa. Reigning MLS MVP Carles Gil leads MLS this season in both successful crosses and key passes, and is tied for the league lead in assists with seven. Gustavo Bou was just one goal behind Buksa in 2021 with 15 on the season. Bou and Gil both scored goals in New England’s games this week, so the Revs have figured out how to function without Buksa already, but he is an undeniable loss to the New England squad. MORE

FIRST TOUCHES

• As of Tuesday, Minnesota and New England are two of the four teams in MLS with a neutral goal differential; of those four, the Revs are the highest scoring with 24 goals scored and conceded, while Minnesota is the lowest scoring with 15 goals scored and conceded.
• The Revs have actually played once since the international break already; they were one of just six MLS teams to play this past weekend, picking up a 2-1 win in Kansas City, with goals from Gustavo Bou and Emmanuel Boateng.
• There has never been a goal scored later than the 62nd minute in this matchup. MORE