The Revolution come to Town

(Photo: mlssoccer.com)

On Sunday, the New England Revolution will take on the Philadelphia Union in an all-important MLS Eastern Conference showdown. The Union are currently sitting in second to last but are boasting a current form that sees them 3 and 2 in their last five matches. The opposition New England are currently in a poor run of form 1-2-2. One team is in form the other team is slumping if the Union can get a win they will swap positions with the Revolution and move up to 8th in the East. The fruits of the Unions labor will finally pay off if they can get the big result.


This match favors the inform Union who are 4-4-1 at PPL and New England are 1-7-2 on away games. New England is also without their big name signing Jerry Bengston who is away with the Honduran Olympic team. In his short time with the Revs he has shown he will be constant source of goals. He scored one goal in his only match for the Revs and netted 2 for Honduras. The Revolution still have some offensive fire power with stud new-comer Saer Sene. Sene has netted 8 goals this season and has proven to be physically imposing force.


Coming off a stellar All-star performance captain Carlos Valdes proved why he is one of the best defenders in the league. Joining Carlos in the defense may or may not be the Union’s new big signing Bakary Soumare. Soumare stands at a towering 6’4 and was one of the best defenders in the league before he went to play in France. He will add some much needed height in the back line for the Union. Last game against NYRB the Union were beat 2 times by lack of height in the back line; the defenders just could not get up and contend with the much taller Kenny Cooper. With Soumare ready for action it presents Hackworth with the problem of what to do with Amobi Okugo who has been playing phenomenal. The 21 year old former first round draft pick has stepped in and shown to be one of the best centerbacks in the league defensively. He still has to work on his distribution and passing. The U-23 National team member can also play as a holding midfielder. Hackworth will have decisions to make whether he wants to play Soumare, or move Okugo up to the holding midfield position. If he moves up to midfield most certainly Michael Lahoud will be relegated to the bench. Hackworth will also have to decide between playing Okugo or leading goal scorer Gabriel Gomez who is coming back to full health.


With the current forms of both teams it is expected that the Union are going to come out swinging. Expect to see the Union holding possession in the attacking third working the flanks and trying to create from out wide. All star Michael Farfan may not have had the impact he wanted on the All-star game but I expect him to bounce back with a great game. Farfan needs to create scoring opportunites for himself and the forwards. With Freddy Adu set to return to the starting lineup he should be able to deliver a creative element that the Union lacked last game. Love him or hate him, Adu has been playing better and has shown he can create opportunities. Both teams need to win this game and both teams believe they can win this game.


Prediction: I expect the Union to walk away with a victory. This game is important for the small hopes the we have at making the playoffs. It’s going to be a highly offensive game with staunch Union defense will see the Union blast past the Revolution. This should be a great game I think the Union win 3-1.