On Saturday, July 18th, NYCFC will travel to Gilette stadium in Massachusetts to take on the New England Revolution.

Form

Geez, we thought we had it bad. New England look like we did a month ago, and at times even worse. The Revs have one victory in their past twelve matches and are currently on a five game losing streak, which is the record for this MLS season. They were recently battered by our New Jersey neighbors 4-1. Oh, and did I mention their only DP and best player, Jermaine Jones, has been injured for a month? Yeah, not the best time to be a NE fan.

After looking at that, we’ve got to be pretty happy with how life is. Pirlo, Lampard, Angelino, it could be much worse. NYC still have real issues holding a lead, but with better quality players coming in and another full week of practice, expect NYC to be confident heading into this match.

Lineups

NE (4-2-3-1): Shuttleworth (GK), Tierney (LB), Goncalves (CB), Farrell (CB), Woodberry (RB), Caldwell (CM), Dorman (CM), Aguedlo (LM), Nguyen (CAM), Bunbury (RM), Davies (ST)

-Jermaine Jones should be out for this game, with his return likely to be made in a few weeks.

NYCFC (4-4-2): Saunders (GK), Angelino (LB), Wingert (CB), Facey (CB), Iraola (RB), McNamara (LM), Jacobson (CM), Grabavoy (CM), Ballouchy (RM), Mullins (ST), Villa (ST)

-Hernandez has started training again but may not be 100% and Wingert may get the nod.

-Lampard was supposed to make his debut for sure this weekend, but reports are arising that he will not be traveling with the squad up to New England. Another week of waiting? Goddamit.

-Shelton has had another full week of training and we are praying that he at least makes the bench.

Final Thoughts

This brings me back. Our first game of the season was against the Revs, back when they were considered in the top three of the league and we were barely even a football club. Villa scored, Mullins had a tap-in against his former club, and we ended up with a two-nil win. Oh how long ago that feels.

We’re going into this game in much better form that NE and we really should win. Jermaine Jones called an impromptu players meeting earlier this week to try and get his team back into shape. Let’s hope he’s no 2005 Rafa Benitez.