Yes, yes, we know how bad the Revolution are, and we really don’t have to re-hash it … but you know we can’t help ourselves. Dead last in the Eastern Conference, eight points taken from 33 so far, a week away from Chelsea FC coming to Foxborough and pulling an Arya Stark to the Revs’ Petyr Baelish, and a goal difference that is going down faster than the Lusitania did way back in 1915.
But to be fair, Wednesday night’s opponent, Chicago, isn’t necessarily faring much better than The Boys In Blue.
The Fire sit slightly above New England in 10th, with 10 points claimed out of 30; only FC Cincinnati, which just fired its manager after 11 matches in its inaugural season, separates the two (8 points, sitting 11th via the goal difference tiebreaker). Two wins so far, just as many as the Revolution, and four losses. Chicago is having just as much trouble scoring as the Revs are (12 goals to New England’s 11), but defending is a different issue altogether: while New England’s goal feels double the size, the Fire have allowed nearly half as many (13 to 25).
It’s pretty safe to say that Wednesday night’s clash in Bridgeview is more than just another bottom of the East six-pointer; no, it is chance to turn the Fire’s season around, and a chance for New England to get its head above water.
And if neither side can do that, things aren’t likely to improve.
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Chicago is not only coming off a scoreless draw with Los Angeles Football Club last Saturday night: the Fire have not scored in three matches — all on the road — going back to the 80th minute against Colorado on April 20, a 4-1 victory. Chicago dropped a 1-0 decision to Montreal on April 28, and suffered a 1-0 loss to New York City FC in the South Bronx four days earlier. So while they’re having difficulty in scoring, they’re holding teams to minimal gains.
And while the Revolution are scoring goals — five in their last two matches — they are letting them up in bunches. But New England will have both Brandon Bye and Jalil Anibaba available for selection following their forced sabbatical at the weekend.
A few things that we’ve noticed about Chicago:
- The Fire have a tendency to give up space in the middle which, if the Revolution recognize it, should allow New England to connect passes;
- Chicago has a tendency to make mistakes in the back line which will give way to turnovers and chances for the opposition, but expect the Fire to throw 10 men behind the ball in their own defending third. Goalkeeper David Ousted is communicative, and won’t be easy to sneak up on, while Bastian Schweinsteiger calms everything down;
- They will also overload to certain weak spots in a team’s defensive alignments; in the Revs’ alignment, we would figure that’s pretty much anywhere right about now.
