The New England Revolution will aim to extend a pair of streaks on Sunday night when they host FC Cincinnati in Foxborough, Mass.
The Revolution (6-5-6, 24 points) are unbeaten in their past nine matches overall (4-0-5) and undefeated in five consecutive contests (four MLS, one U.S. Open Cup) against FC Cincinnati.
New England recorded a 5-1 romp over Cincinnati in a U.S. Open Cup match on May 11 before posting a 3-2 victory versus the club just 10 days later.
Carles Gil scored three goals and set up another in the first encounter against Cincinnati before adding an assist in the more recent match.
The Revolution have been idle since playing a scoreless draw versus Vancouver last Sunday, while Cincinnati (7-7-3, 24 points) was pushed to the limit in a wild 4-4 draw against New York City FC on Wednesday.
New England coach Bruce Arena, however, wasn’t putting much stock in his team having the edge in fitness with Cincinnati coming off a mid-week match.
“We played three games last week, or the week before. And it is challenging, but we still managed to get through that week with two wins and a draw. So, I wouldn’t use that thinking,” Arena said. “We’re not going to enter that game thinking we’re going to have an advantage. We would like to believe we do, but athletes today recover pretty quickly so they’ll have a good three days to get ready for us. I think they’re going to be fine.”
Cincinnati’s Brenner has been just fine of late, as he followed up his first goal of the season with the franchise’s first hat trick on Wednesday. Brenner was voted the Major League Soccer Player of the Week on Friday.
“He was outstanding (on Wednesday),” Cincinnati coach Pat Noonan said of Brenner. “I thought he was finding himself in good spots closer to the goal, aggressive, looking to get behind, the timing of his runs to get to goal … was very good and that’s what we’re looking for: Him in those moments to face goal and (score).”
–Field Level Media
