Preview: Kansas City Wizards at New England Revolution
- Updated: October 16, 2010
The New England Revolution (8-15-5, 28 points) are set to play their last home game of 2010 on Saturday night against the Kansas City Wizards (10-12-6, 36 points). The Revs, playing just for pride, have a chance to play spoiler and end the Wizards’ slim playoff hopes with a win or a draw.
The Revs will again have to overcome being undermanned. Kenny Mansally and Sainey Nyassi have returned from international duty, but Cory Gibbs and Pat Phelan will miss this match due to suspension from yellow card accumulation. Matt Reis is out for the rest of the season after undergoing ankle surgery, while Kevin Alston, Zak Boggs, and Roberto Linck are also out with injuries. Marko Perovic is questionable with a hamstring strain.
The Revs will likely need a lot of offensive production for Sainey Nyassi if they are to get a win tonight against Kansas City. (Photo by Art Donahue/artdonahue.com)
Expect Chris Tierney to be played at right back, while Emannuel Osei and Darrius Barnes man the center back positions. Seth Sinovic should return to left back while Nyassi and Mansally will likely be inserted back into the midfield along with captain Shalrie Joseph and Jason Griffiths. Ilija Stolica could be partnered with Zack Schilawski or Kheli Dube if Perovic can’t play. Bobby Shuttleworth should get his second straight start in goal in Reis’ absence.
Kansas City has a much shorter list of absences to deal with. Only forward Zoltan Hercegfalvi and defender Jimmy Conrad are certain to miss the match due to injury. Midfielder Ryan Smith’s status is unknown after missing the Wizards 2-0 victory over Chicago on Tuesday. Smith leads the team with 7 assists this season.
Regardless of whether or not Smith plays, the Revs will have to be wary of Kei Kamara, who is the Wizards top scorer with 10 goals this season. Kamara sliced up the Revolution defense for a goal and two assists in the Wizards 4-1 victory over the Revs in Kansas City on August 21st.
The Revs, coming off a 2-1 road victory over Houston last weekend, will be looking to win back-to-back league games for the third time this season. Kansas City, who needs to beat the Revs and then defeat San Jose next weekend in addition to needing Colorado to lose their final two games in order to make the playoffs, will be going into New England with confidence, despite their 4-7-3 road record this season. The Wizards have gotten the better of the Revs in Foxboro over the years and hold a 10-5-5 all-time record there. In fact, the Wizards are 5-0-1 against the Revs in their past six matches.
The match is set to kick-off at Gillette Stadium 8PM and can be seen live on Comcast Sports Net New England.
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