The New England Revolution will put their five-game unbeaten streak on the line against underperforming Sporting Kansas City in an interdivisional match on Saturday night (7:30) at Gillette Stadium.
The Revolution (5-1-2) are in first place in the Eastern Conference while Sporting Kansas City (0-5-3) is last in the Western Conference. But the most glaring discrepancy between the two clubs is not the records or standing within their respective conferences.
The biggest chasm between the Revolution and SKC is measured in goals for and against. Both teams have played eight games with the Revolution netting 13 goals to just two by SKC. The Revolution have allowed seven goals to 11 by SKC.
While acknowledging the numerical mismatch, Revolution sporting director and head coach Bruce Arena has looked beyond the disparate stats to avoid falling victim to a trap game.
“Well, I think it’s something that doesn’t add up at this point,” said Arena. “There are quality players there in their front line, they are all good players and they are good at attacking set pieces.
“So, one would think they are going to start scoring goals, hopefully not against us on Saturday. I do believe they have a really solid team and again, we are only eight games into the season. They have plenty of time to move their team in the right direction.
“They have three attacking players up top and there is no reason to believe that they are not going to be dangerous.”
The SKC forwards on Arena’s radar are Johnny Russell, Daniel Salloi and formidable Mexican striker Alan Pulido. Arena added an insurance piece to the back line by signing journeyman free agent defender Ben Sweat, who is in his eighth MLS season.
Sweat became available when he was released by Sporting Kansas City earlier in the month. Sweat, 31, has made 121 MLS appearances with 104 starts and has been capped twice by the U.S. Men’s National team.
Sweat joined the league with the Columbus Crew but spent most of his time with NYCFC. Sweat appeared in 20 games with 18 starts with SKC so he has a good handle on the team’s untapped scoring potential.
“I mean in my time there, we had a ton of chances,” said Sweat. “Obviously scoring two goals does not always highlight all the chances you create and maybe the goalkeepers made some really good saves and that kind of stuff.
“I do not think that represents the club entirely. And in terms of Daniel Salloi and Johnny Russell, they are tremendous players. They are really good one-on-one.
“They love to dribble and they love to attack and they are always dangerous. No matter how the game is going, those two are always dangerous and that is something we are going to have to take care of this weekend.”
Sporting Kansas City is the first of three games in eight days for the Revs. The Revolution will be without Dylan Borrero, who picked up a red card in a 1-1 draw at Columbus on April 18.
Center back Henry Kessler underwent successful surgery on his right hamstring on Friday. The procedure was performed by Dr. Scott Martin as Mass. General Hospital. Kessler injured the hamstring in a match against CF Montreal on April 8.