Surging Revs Face Struggling Red Bulls

June 18, 2008

The New England Revolution have won five of their last six matches on their way to the top of the standings. This impressive run comes despite the absences of several key players due to both injuries and international call-ups.

Their opponent on Wednesday, the New York Red Bulls, have faced similar injury problems, but won only once in their last five games and have slid down to sixth in the Eastern Conference standings.

When the two sides meet on Wednesday for the second and final time this season it will be a chance of the Revs to further pull away from the rest of the Eastern Conference, while for New York it will be an opportunity to start to turn things around after a huge defeat over the weekend.

Once again the Revs will be without Shalrie Joseph, Kenny Mansally, and Khano Smith due to their involvement in World Cup Qualifying for their countries. Taylor Twellman is still out injured, as is Gary Flood. The Revs, however, had to deal with those same absences last weekend and with Steve Nicol switching to a 4-4-2 formation, the team came away with a 2-0 win in Houston.

New York, meanwhile, are expected to once again be without their two designated players, Juan Pablo Angel and Claudio Reyna. Those absences are in addition to Jozy Altidore, who was recently bought by Spain's Villarreal for a record fee of around $10 million. Altidore, who scored for the Red Bulls in their 1-1 tie with the Revs back in April, along with Angel has tallied a combined 5 of the Red Bulls 12 goals this season. The two have also contributed a 3 assists to the team's offense. Without those players on Saturday, New York fell 4-1 at the hands of D.C. United.

New York is 1-3-1 on the road, while the Revs are 3-2-1 at home. The match kicks off at 7:30PM.