Week 10 Game Preview: The Revs Come to Town. Charlotte v New England
It’s almost time for another week of MLS Soccer in the Queen City. Charlotte welcomes the New England Revolution to town for a 7:30 pm kickoff on Saturday. Be sure to get to the Fortress early as Saturday night is a giveaway night, courtesy of Atrium Health.
The Revs come into the match near the bottom of the east, sitting in 11th place on 10 points. The ten points are only three points away from 14th place Toronto. While having a .500 record at home, New England is 1-2-1 on the road with a goal difference of minus one. On the other hand, Charlotte is sitting pretty, top of the east on 19 points and a goal difference of plus nine. Both teams share the same record on the road but going into matchweek 10, Charlotte remains a perfect 5-0-0 at home.
A new face will be suiting up for The Crown as Charlotte brought in defender Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty on loan from Montreal. Marshall-Rutty brings MLS experience with him as he has made 88 appearances in the league, including six so far this season with Montreal. This is a good move as right back Nathan Byrne will be out for a while. According to TopBin90, Coach Smith revealed the injury to the press after the San Diego match. Another defender is going to be out of action for a bit. Souleyman Doumbia is dealing with a hamstring injury. I wish the guys a healthy and full recovery. It’s no secret that these injuries will cause Coach Smith and the coaching staff to shuffle the lineup until Nathan and Souleyman are fit to play.
Going into the match, I think it will look a lot like the one we saw against San Diego, with the only change being Tim Ream slotting in at left back for Doumbia. Zaha, Agyemang, and Abada will be the three upfront while we will see a midfield of Biel, Bronico and Westwood. The center back pairing will be Malanda and Privett while Ream and Scardina take up the fullback positions and Kahlina holds it down between the pipes.
As for the match, I think Charlotte gets a 3-0 win. Pep Biel continues his stellar form and adds a goal and assist. The assist will keep him at the top of the league in that stat. Towards the end of the first half, Adilson Malanda puts a header in the back of the net and when the teams go to the break, Charlotte leads 2-0. The third goal comes around the 60th minute as Wilfried Zaha delivers a crisp pass to Patrick Agyemang who fires it into the back of the net. When the final whistle blows, the scoreboard will read 3-0 in favor of Charlotte and three points will stay in the Fortress.
Following the game against New England, the boys travel to Ohio for a date with the Columbus Crew at 7:30 pm on May 3rd.