It was a two-game block at home for the New England club going into Week 25 against Chicago. They wanted six points from the two games and it was evident based on the way that they played. The Revs dominated most of the game, and only conceded a goal on a quality set piece. Three points down, and three to go for Bruce Arena and company.
Let's look at the starting 11...
Headshots from MLSsoccer.com.
Bruce Arena
DeJuan Jones
Michael Mancienne
Andrew Farrell
Brandon Bye
Luis Caicedo
Wilfried Zahibo
Carles Gil
Diego Fagundez
Gustavo Bou
Teal Bunbury
Matt Turner
TAKEAWAYS
A fluid, adaptive midfield
DeJuan Jones
Carles Gil
Brandon Bye
Carles Gil
The play of the outside backs
Brandon Bye
THREE UP
Wilfried Zahibo
Gustavo Bou
Matt Turner
TWO DOWN
Carles Gil
MLSsoccer.com
Juan Agudelo
Juan Fernando Caicedo
PLAYER RATINGS
PARTING THOUGHT
- What formation will Arena decide to go with? On any given night, that Toronto midfield -- Alejandro Pozuelo, Michael Bradley, and Jonathan Osorio -- can be one of the best midfields in the league. I'm curious to see which formation he thinks is best suited to get a result against that side.
- Who gets the nod if Teal Bunbury can't go? Is it Juan Fernando Caicedo? Or does Arena not trust him enough to simply fill in for Bunbury? Will he shift things around and go with a 4-4-2, playing Cristian Penilla and Gustavo Bou as the forwards?
- Despite Zahibo's recent good performances, will he struggle against Toronto's midfield? Toronto's midfield can be very dynamic and physical. Zahibo tends to struggle against opposing midfielders that are much faster than him. Keep an eye on him defensively and whether or not he gets exposed in the defensive third.