New England Soccer Today

The Warm Up: #NYvNE

Photo credit: Kari Heistad/capturedimages.biz

Photo credit: Kari Heistad/capturedimages.biz

The Eastern Conference Finals begin Sunday as the Revolution travel to face the New York Red Bulls.

Location: Red Bull Arena, Harrison, New Jersey

Scheduled kick-off: 1:30 pm

TV/Radio: NBC; 98.5 FM The Sports Hub

Season series: Third match between the teams this season; The Red Bulls won both matches between the teams in 2014 with a 2-0 win at Gillette Stadium on June 8th and a 2-1 comeback victory at Red Bull Arena on August 2nd. The August 2nd match saw the Red Bulls prevail even despite being down 1-0 at halftime and only playing with 10 men after a red card. The Revolution are winless against the Red Bulls in the last six MLS matches, dating back to July 2012. During this time frame, they hold a 0-3-3 record against the Red Bulls, although this excludes a 4-2 win in the 2013 U.S. Open Cup and two wins in the 2013 pre-season Desert Diamond Classic.

Revolution update: 17-13-4 overall (regular season), 55 points through 34 games (1.62 points per game), with 51 goals scored and 46 goals against….Finished the regular season in second place in the Eastern Conference, only behind D.C. United by 4 points ….Defeated the Columbus Crew 7-3 on aggregate in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals….On the road during the regular season, the Revolution went 6-9-2, with 20 points in 17 games (1.18 points per game), with 23 goals and 32 goals against….The Revolution did win their one playoff road match so far in the 2014 MLS postseason, stunning the Columbus Crew 4-2 in the first leg of the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals…The Revolution are unbeaten in their last seven matches and have won eleven of their last thirteen matches….The Revolution are 4-1-1 in their last six road matches since losing 2-1 to the Red Bulls on August 2. During this six-game stretch, the Revolution have outscored their opponents 14-8, and scored at least twice in each game, except their lone loss, a 1-0 shutout loss to the Columbus Crew on September 20th….The Revolution are seeking their first win at Red Bull Arena. New England is 0-5-1 since Red Bull Arena opened its doors in 2010….The Revolution’s historically have performed well against New York in the playoffs, with a 3-1-2 record and advancing in all three playoffs series (2003, 2005, and 2007) against the Red Bulls, who were then known as the MetroStars.

New York Red Bulls update: 13-11-10 overall (regular season), 50 points through 34 games (1.47 points per game), with 55 goals scored and 50 goals against….Finished the regular season in fourth place in the Eastern Conference, five points behind the Revolution….Defeated Sporting Kansas City 2-1 in the Eastern Conference Wild-Card Game, and then defeated DC United 3-2 on aggregate in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals…At home, the Red Bulls went 10-3-4- with 34 points in 17 games (2.00 points per game), with 38 goals scored and 23 goals conceded…The Red Bulls have also won their two home playoff matches against Sporting Kansas City 2-1 and DC United 2-0….New York has won nine of their last ten games at home overall, with their only loss coming to the Columbus Crew on October 19th by a score of 3-1. During this ten game span, the Red Bulls have outscored their opponents 22-10….Overall, the Red Bulls are 8-3-1 in their previous twelve games and 5-2-0 in their last seven games….The Red Bulls led the Eastern Conference in goals scored with 55 during the regular season, and are led by Bradley Wright-Phillips, who tied the MLS single-season goal-scoring record with 27 goals and has already scored three goals so far in the postseason. Former Arsenal and Barcelona forward Thierry Henry was tied for second in the MLS with 14 assists, while scoring 10 goals of his own….The Red Bulls will be without left-back Roy Miller for both legs of the Eastern Conference Finals due to a red card given in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals and caution accumulation.

Next for Revolution: The second leg of the Eastern Conference Finals will be held on Saturday, November 29 at 3:00 pm at Gillette Stadium.

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