Chance to Rebound in KC

Revs Looking to Bounce Back After Chicago Loss

April 9, 2008

By Sean Donahue

Who: Revolution at Wizards
Where: Kansas City
When: Wednesday, 8:00 p.n. (TV38)

Coming off a very disappointing outing in Chicago where they gave up a goal four minutes in, had Jeff Larentowicz ejected in the 7th minute, and eventually fell 4-0 to the Fire, the New England Revolution will be looking for a better result in Kansas City.

With the Wizards having a perfect 2-0 record to start the season, the task won't be very easy.

Mauricio Castro should continue to see time in the attacking mid. (Photo credit: Joyce Furia).

Still without Taylor Twellman and Steve Ralston due to long term injuries, head coach Steve Nicol will have to further reshape his lineup without Jeff Larentowicz and possibly Chris Albright, who is suffering from a bruised ankle bone. If the Revs are to come out with a result, they will again need to hope for the spark from their young players that was key to their season opening victory against Houston, but lacking in the poor performance in Chicago

The biggest question for the Revs going into the match is who will be starting. Should they keep with the 3-5-2, Gary Flood is the likely replacement for Larentowicz if Mauricio Castro continues to fill in for Ralston in the attacking midfielder role. If Albright is out, Nicol's choice is a little harder to predict. First round SuperDraft pick Rob Valentino could see his debut or Chase Hilgenbrinck could take over at left back with Jay Heaps moving back to the right, if Nicol feels Hilgenbrinck can play in a three man back line.

Whatever choices he decides to make, Nicol will at most only have five players who started in last year's Eastern Conference Final in the starting 11 Wednesday.

Kansas City is also likely without a couple of key players in Sasha Victorine and Davy Arnaud. Their absences seem to have had little effect on the Wizards so far as the team remains the only in MLS with a perfect 2-0 record after two games. It should be noted, however, that the Wizards have had an easy start to their schedule with their first four matches all at home.

With Eddie Johnson having left in the offseason for Fulham FC of England, Kansas City has found goals from many different sources this season. Newcomers Claudio Lopez and Ivan Trujillo have both found the back of the net and will likely be the starters up top for the Wizards again on Wednesday. Scott Sealy has also scored coming off the bench after recording seven goals last year. But the Revs' will also need to watch out for defender Jimmy Conrad on set pieces, as he leads the team in scoring after tallying two goals in the Wizards last match.

With the constant forced lineup shuffling early in the season hurting the Revs, the Wizards have to be the favorites entering Wednesday's match.

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