Game Day Hub: New York City vs New England at Gillette Stadium

It's Matchday 15, and New York City FC is in Boston Foxboro to play the New England Revolution on the plastic grass of Gillette Stadium.

NYCFC are one of the hottest teams in Major League Soccer right now after taking 12 out of a possible 15 points in their last five games.

New York City is riding a two-game winning streak on the road and will be looking to collect three straight regular season wins away from home for the first time since 2019, when Dome Torrent's squad beat DC United, Montréal Impact, and LA Galaxy in consecutive road trips between late April and early May.

New England are struggling in 2024, with just seven points thus far from 12 league matches played. That puts them at the bottom of the Eastern Conference.

Their -16 goal differential through 12 matches is historically bad, and the Revs enter this home match vs New York City trying to stop the bleeding amidst a stretch of five losses in their last six games.

NYCFC vs New England H2H

New York City have a losing record against just seven MLS teams — and New England is one of them.

But the recent head-to-head slightly favors NYCFC. With the 2-0 win over the Revs back in April at Yankee Stadium, New York City is 2-2-1 in the last five meetings between these clubs, with 7 goals scored and 6 goals allowed.

New York City FC

• Player Availability: James Sands is out serving a one-match suspension due to yellow card accumulation. Maxi Moralez remains out as he works back from his knee injury, while defender Rio Hope-Gund is also still unavailable.
• Who makes Nick Cushing's Starting XI? Striker is a spot of interest after Mounsef Bakrar broke his goalless streak as a substitute to win the Hudson River Derby. The smart money is on the Algerian sliding back into the XI in place of Jovan Mijatović, and over Alonso Martínez.
• Kevin O'Toole has been in fine form at left-back, and he spoke to HRB executive editor Oliver Strand about how he's locked down his starter's role, how his attacking background helps him now playing in the defense, and more. HRB subscribers can read the full interview here.

New England Revolution

• Player Availability: Right-back Brandon Bye (knee), winger Nacho Gil (knee), midfielder Thomas McNamara (hamstring), and midfielder Peyton Miller (foot) are out with injuries, while defender DeJuan Jones is questionable. Right-back Ryan Spaulding is suspended after earning a red card last week in the loss to Philadelphia.
• What's gone wrong for the Revs? A lot, and we had Jake Catanese of The Blazing Musket tell us all about New England's issues. Learn more about the state of the Revolution here in Oppo Research: 5 Things about New England Revolution.
• When asked in his pre-match press conference if he now had his ideal attacking lineup available vs. NYCFC, Revs head coach Caleb Porter said, in part, "We think we have our top group healthy and fit for the first time all season...This will be our best attacking lineup that we've played all season."
• That "best attacking lineup" likely includes Tomás Chancalay, who returns from a yellow card suspension, and Dylan Borrero, who has made his way back after an ACL tear in 2023 and earned his first start of 2024 in last week's 0-3 home loss to Philadelphia Union.
• The vibes seem less than great up in New England, with Caleb Porter recently getting a bit testy with Sam Minton of The Blazing Musket over a question about defender Dave Romney's playing time.