Soccer Weekend: If there's any time for the Revolution to snap out of their funk, it's this weekend with New York in town

Another weekend, another Revolution matchup against a high-quality team that seems to be struggling early in this 2019 Major League Soccer season.

Last week? The defending MLS Cup champs Atlanta United, which hadn’t won a game in the league before it came to Foxborough. The Five Stripes left Route 1 with a 2-0 win.

Coming to Gillette Stadium Saturday night? That would be the New York Red Bulls, the defending regular season Eastern Conference champion and the Supporter’s Shield holders. The Scarlet Steers from the Garden State currently sit ninth in the East, having gone winless in its last four following last Sunday’s 2-2 draw in the Blue Hell of Children’s Mercy Park. And not only that, New York will be without its No. 10, Kaku, for seeing red after his second-half stoppage time stupidity against Sporting Kansas City.

To say that the Red Bulls are struggling would be an understatement.

But as we all know, New England is struggling, too, the Revs mired in mediocrity. Only one win in seven, sitting in the Eastern Conference’s basement for the second time this season. With the exception of Tajon Buchanan’s on-target shot in the 77th minute against AUFC last Saturday, the other Revolution strikers haven’t registered a shot on-frame yet.

And let’s not let this other stat be lonely: it’s been 208 minutes since The Boys In Blue have scored a goal.

Quite frankly, it’s not a good look at Patriot Place right now.

Yet for 90 minutes on Saturday, both teams will try to get out of the hole they’re in. And with both sides employing similar tactics — the high press, for instance — it asks the question: who’s better at implementing their tactics? Answer to be revealed by 9:30 p.m. Saturday.

Offensively, New York is New York. Bradley Wright-Phillips can make the onion bag burp, but the Englishman has been in a scoring drought as of late, scoreless since an 85th-minute tally against San Jose on March 16. The Red Bulls have utilized a second striker with BWP in recent weeks, with Mathias Jorgensen playing that secondary role. The one thing we noticed about Jorgensen during our film review this week? He is too quick to pull the trigger, and that leads to missed opportunities for Wright-Phillips, who has such pace and movement off the ball that it makes him difficult for defenses to mark. Jorgenson will lay the ball off on the counter if he’s the one who makes the dispossession, and his hold-up play is not at the same level as BWP.

For the Revolution to be successful in limiting New York in the attacking third, their defenders will need constant pressure. And on the counter, we have to wonder if the Revs’ defenders are fast enough to slow Wright-Phillips down, or stay with him entirely? Andrew Farrell was able to do that against Josef Martinez a week ago.

When it comes to New York’s defense, though … there might be a reason the Red Bulls are ninth. New York was poor in the back against SKC and Minnesota United these last two weeks, with aggressive offenses carving it to pieces with its combo play. Not only that, the Red Bulls center backs have a tendency to leave attacking players unmarked. The Revolution will need movement in the attacking third, as their guests also have a tendency to be slow to react.

But the other thing is key: on those combos, teams have had difficulty finishing, either hitting wide, or sending service straight at goalkeeper Luis Robles, one of the best in the East.

Not only that, teams have played long balls against New York. It wouldn’t shock me in the least if the Revs try this tactic, given the success other teams have had using it. Expect the Red Bulls to employ a three-man high line of confrontation should they high press, much in the same way the Revs executed this tactic against Columbus two weeks ago.

The question of who New York will play in the No. 10 role, given Kaku’s absence. Should it be Daniel Royer, expect him to play more forward, as he is less of a defensive presence. The Garden State tourists will be without Florian Valot (ACL), and Alex Muyl is questionable (ankle).

It should also be noted that New York’s defense has not had a clean sheet in the league all season; it did have two clean sheets in the CONCACAF Champions League against Panama’s Atletico Pantoja.

If there’s a time for the Revs to break out of their slump, the time is now.

Elsewhere in MLS this weekend (all times Eastern):

Three games kick off the weekend tonight, as FC Cincinnati plays host to Vancouver (7:30 p.m.), Toronto hosts Minnesota United (8 p.m.), and LA Galaxy host Houston (11 p.m., UniMas).

On Saturday, Chicago hosts Colorado (1 p.m.), Philadelphia hosts Montreal (1 p.m.), Orlando hosts Vancouver (3 p.m.) on a short turnaround for the Whitecaps after a 1-0 win over LAFC Wednesday, while Atlanta United hosts FC Dallas ( 4 p.m., ESPN).

In addition, Columbus hosts Portland (7:30 p.m.), and San Jose hosts Sporting Kansas City (10 p.m.).

On Sunday, DC United will host New York City FC (4 p.m., ESPN), and LAFC hosts Seattle (7 p.m., FS1).

In the USL, Birmingham Legion — currently the home of Revs’ loanee Zachary Herivaux — will host Swope Park Rangers at 5 p.m. Saturday. Hartford Athletic is idle following its 4-0 defeat at Red Bulls II at midweek; it travels to North Carolina FC next Saturday.

In the best league in the world, Manchester City will host Tottenham Hotspur for the second time in three days at the City of Manchester Stadium; the two sides met Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals, with City winning the match, 4-3. However, Spurs advanced to the semifinals via the away goals rule, as it was 4-4 on aggregate thanks to their 1-0 first leg win at the new Tottenham stadium. That match is slated for 7:30 a.m Saturday.

Not only that: Bournemouth hosts already relegated Fulham, Huddersfield Town hosts Watford, Wolverhampton will host Brighton Hove & Albion, West Ham hosts Leicester City in a mid-table clash, while Newcastle United hosts Southampton in the lunchtime fixture (12:30 p.m.). With Newcastle, Southampton, and Brighton hovering just above the drop zone, it will be interesting to see how those matches turn out.

On Sunday, Everton hosts Manchester United, Arsenal hosts Crystal Palace as the Gunners look to secure their hold on Champions League football this fall, while Cardiff, struggling to maintain Premier League football status, hosts Liverpool.

On Monday, Chelsea will host Burnley.