Soccer Weekend: Another tilt with DC, Hartford opening Dillon, CONCACAF revamping WCQs, more

Lots to touch on as we head into the weekend, so let’s hit it:

Of course, we start with the Revolution heading to DC United on Friday night (7 p.m., ESPN). We’ve already touched on how United plays during Soccer Weekend last May 24, and as I stated then, the Revs have to continually mark Wayne Rooney much like they did at Gillette on May 25 to slow him down.

United will be without Luciano Acosta, as he serves a suspension through Sunday; you’ll remember that DC missed Paul Arriola’s presence the last time these two sides met, and he is expected to be available for a good portion of this match given the Gold Cup ended five days prior.

The Revolution will be without Antonio Delamea this Friday night as he sits out with a yellow card suspension. We’re expecting Jalil Anibaba to slide into his role in the back line.

Michael Mancienne has returned to training for New England after dealing with plantar fasciitis since the beginning of May. We’re not expecting him to be available, given that’s not 90 minutes fit yet.

The main question, though: Who slides into Acosta’s role as playmaker? That’s the question that everyone should be asking approaching 6 p.m., when the lineups are made live.

Do we see Lucas Rodriguez moving from the left, or does Ulises Segura move from the right? Or does Arriola get the nod?

A positive Revolution result will move the team up to seventh for the night. Should Toronto match New England’s result when the Reds play Montreal, TFC will retain seventh.

More around MLS this weekend

Only three games on the schedule Friday night: Of course, we have the Revs and United on national television, but there’s also Houston hosting LAFC in Western Conference play (9 p.m., UniMas), and LA Galaxy hosting San Jose in a California Clasico (11 p.m., UniMas).

Saturday will see Montreal hosting Toronto, Orlando City hosting Columbus, Chicago hosting FC Cincinnati, Minnesota United hosts FC Dallas, Real Salt Lake hosts Philadelphia, Vancouver hosts Sporting Kansas City, and Portland hosts Colorado.

On Sunday, Seattle will host Atlanta United (3:55 p.m., ESPN), and the first Hudson River Derby as New York City FC hosts New York Red Bulls at Yankee Stadium on FS1 (6:30 p.m.).

Revolution Homegrown striker Justin Rennicks has been named to the league’s Homegrown roster for the 2019 Homegrown Game in Orlando. The MLS Homegrowns will play Mexico’s reigning U20 champions Chivas de Guadalajara on Tuesday, July 30.

We’ll have an all-MLS semifinal and final in the US Open Cup after Wednesday’s results:

Atlanta United beat Saint Louis FC, 2-0, and Orlando City outlasted NYCFC on penalties. They’ll meet up in the semis in Orlando.

Also meeting up? Minnesota United and Portland, after the Loons knocked off New Mexico United, 6-1 — who says there’s no scoring in soccer? — and after Portland beat LAFC on the trot, 1-0. The Loons will host the semifinal.

Down the street, Hartford Athletic will have its second home opener of the season on Saturday evening, this time at its long-term home at Dillon Stadium. They’ll be taking on Indy Eleven at 5 p.m. $10 million in public funding went to the refurb of it.

For those up here wanting to take the road trip: it’s Exit 54 off Interstate 84 West with a left-side exit, a left onto Columbus Boulevard, a left onto Charter Oak Avenue, and then a slight right onto Huyshope Avenue. Dillon will be four-tenths of a mile away on Huyshope.

Earlier this week, Fort Lauderdale’s city commissioners approved Inter Miami’s plan to convert Lockhart Stadium into their temporary home ahead of the 2020 Major League Soccer season. Inter plans an 18,000-seat stadium which it will call home through 2021, when the Miami Freedom Park stadium is completed.

Lockhart — the former home of the defunct MLS side Miami Fusion — will then host Miami’s USL team from that point forward.

Inter has a 50-year lease with the city of Fort Lauderdale, with the club responsible for the stadium’s renovation — reportedly $60 million — operation, and maintenance.

Former Revs striker Patrick Mullins is on the move again, as Columbus traded the former first-round SuperDraft selection to Toronto FC for Jordan Hamilton and an international slot for the remainder of the 2019 season.

Makes you wonder who the Reds are targeting in the Secondary Transfer Window, and who they’ll not renew when November rolls around.

Columbus also moved Robinho to Orlando City for $50,000 in TAM.

CONCACAF has announced it has changed the way it will decide its World Cup entrants. Starting with this cycle and as soon as the June 2020 rankings are released, the top six teams in the North/Central American and Caribbean confederation will battle in their usual Hexagonal, which is usually the last round of World Cup qualifying. The top three when it’s all said and done will head to the World Cup.

But that’s not all: the teams ranked seventh through 42nd in CONCACAF will have their own methodology to qualify for the World Cup. Those sides will be drawn into groups — Groups A-E will be in groups of four, while the last three groups will be groups of three teams each. Only the group winners will advance to this mini-tourney, and after the home-and-away ties are completed, will whittle the field down to one.

The winner will then face the fourth-place team in the Hex, with the winner moving on to the inter-confederational playoff against the Oceania winner or a lesser Asian side to qualify for Qatar.

I actually happen to like this idea. It will give attention to the Hexagonal, which it should, but will give these smaller countries in CONCACAF the opportunity to play more games — teams like the Bahamas and Saint Kitts and Nevis are usually two games and done, or four and done — and eventually strengthen football in our confederation. They are already doing it with Nations League, so it makes sense to do it for World Cup qualifying, too. It will keep a lot of nations riveted on World Cup qualification for longer than a few months.

And lastly, the Chicago Fire and the city of Bridgeview have agreed to an amended lease for SeatGeek Stadium, which will get the club out of the suburbs and closer to downtown Chicago.

The Fire will pay $10 million upfront, and then $5 million per year to the city of Bridgeview over the remaining years of the lease.