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Fresh off their first win of the season over CF Montréal a game that was gusty – both on the field and meteorologically – the Fire travel to New England to take on the Revolution, currently in the midst of their worst start to league play since 2001.
With rain in the forecast in Foxborough, can the Fire once again turn the elements into an advantage and come home with three points to their credit?
Series History
All time: 34W-21D-32LLast Match: September 23, 2023: Fire 2-2 New England at Soldier Field, Chicago, Ill.Last Away Match: May 27, 2023: New England 3-3 Fire at Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Mass.
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New England
The Revs have had a tough start to their MLS campaign, going 0-0-4 in league play, making them one of two teams, along with the San Jose Earthquakes, to remain on zero points. The Revs are tied with Orlando City for most goals against with 10, and only three teams have scored fewer goals than the three tallies New England has made so far in their campaign (Seattle Sounders, Los Angeles FC, Orlando City). The team’s focus has been on continental play, where they are just one of three MLS teams still standing in CONCACAF CHampions Cup play, having defeated C.A. Independiente from Panama and Costa Rican side L.D. Alajuelense to advance to the tournament quarter final. For the first time this season, the Revs full focus can be on an MLS match: Their next CONCACAF match isn’t until April 2nd, though they are taking on Club América, one of the continent’s most successful clubs.
Fire
The Fire found a way to win at home. Last week, they played CF Montréal in a wild match that ended in a 4-3 and broke a number of team or league records. The victory was the first for the Fire this season, who’d previously had disappointing 2-1 losses to FC Cincinnati and the Columbus Crew at home and away, respectively.
The Storyline
What is a team’s “true” identity? In the fifth match of the season for both teams, that seems to be the question of this match.
Are the Revolution, playing under new Head Coach Caleb Porter, destined to dwell near the basement of the Eastern Conference, as their 0-0-4 record suggests? Or are they one of the league’s top teams, being one of just three MLS teams to have made it past the Round of 16 in the CONCACAF Champions Cup? Is that, not poor form, the real reason that the team is off to its worst start in league play since 2001? Does it matter that they’re the only MLS team to have made it to the quarterfinal without facing a Liga MX or MLS opponent?
More to the point: Are the Fire a different team in 2024 than they were in years past?
You could argue that they aren’t: The Fire was in a position to win their season opener in Philadelphia – one of the toughest environments in MLS for a visiting team – but settled for a draw due to a second-half stoppage time equalizer. Two matches later, playing in Columbus, a team with a lengthy undefeated streak at home, the team again was in a position to get a valuable road point but instead conceded even deeper into stoppage time, sending the team home with nothing to show for their troubles.
Combine that with their loss to FC Cincinnati in their home opener – allowing two goals, one off a set piece by leaving a player unmarked, the other by a careless defensive lapse – and it all feels all too familiar to those that have watched the Fire for the past few seasons.
In that context, the victory against CF Montréal – coming back from being down 2-0 and 3-1 to win – is just another false dawn: The team, it could be argued, was lucky, refereeing influenced the outcome more than players, and the weather was a factor. You won’t see the Fire playing a three-striker system very often, and Kellyn Acosta won’t often get a 50 MPH wind gust to turn a long ball into a goal.
And yet you could argue that this year’s Fire is different: Getting a point in Philadelphia is about as good of a result as the team could have hoped for, and though this doesn’t count for anything, they almost had more. Even if they lost their next two games, the Fire weren’t outplayed in either, and showed resilience in the way they played.
In that context, the victory over Montréal isn’t a fluke – it’s the 2024 Fire’s efforts finally bearing fruit. The argument here is that the team kept their heads up despite going down off two early PKs; they continued to play their game. When the going got rough, rather than trying to batten down the hatches, Frank Klopas went for it, putting all three strikers at his disposal on the bench at the same time. The first goals in Fire uniforms for Kellyn Acosta and Hugo Cuypers? Poetic justice of a sort; if the wind had an assist on Acosta’s long-range goal, it’s because the soccer gods smile on those who are bold enough to try.
So, which is it? Are the Fire the same old, will they go revert to the all-too-familiar ways of dropping points in winnable games? Or did the 15,000 gathered by Chicago’s lakefront last week witness the start of something different?
A victory for either team, already a sixth of the way through the season, would do a lot to shift the narrative, both for each team’s respective fanbase and around the league.
Fire Keys to Victory
- Next Man Up: With Xherdan Shaqiri and Chris Brady away on international duty and Andrew Gutman still unavailable due to injury, other players will have to step up. Players like Chase Gasper, Spencer Richey and Chris Mueller are likely to get starts, and need to carry the mantle for the players that aren’t there. If he does get the nod, it will be Mueller’s first start since April 29, 2023.
- Test the Backup: Like the Fire, the Revs usual starting goalie is away on international duty. Earl Edwards Jr. is a competent backup, but he’s had a total of 14 appearances since 2019. The Fire have long needed to shoot more, but that’s especially true against a backup who likely will be working off some rust
- Balls in the box: Hugo Cuypers scored his first goal in a Fire uniform off a quick flick from close range. That isn’t to say that skill wasn’t involved – it was a specific flick and not one that most players could make – but if the Fire want to activate their team-record signing, they need to learn from what worked against Montréal, and provide their #9 with more consistent service close to the opposition goal – preferably with balls that land near Cuypers’ feet rather than through crosses.
Panel Predictions
Alex Calabrese
New England have had a poor start to 2024, and while they are overdue for an MLS win, they'll be without breakout star Esmir Bajraktarević, so it will be substantially harder. Without Xherdan Shaqiri, the Fire could be more efficient with Brian Gutiérrez through the middle, and I think they dig deep for a road win.
Prediction: New England 1-2 Fire
Jiggly Carollo
"It's not a perfect plan/But it's the one we've got"
This game is gonna end one of two ways. Up to this point, the Fire have played fairly defensively, but they had the excuse of going up against much better teams. But the Revs have sucked. So it's time for the Fire to show what they can do when they get to play "their" game, or even show what "their" game even is. So either we see them step out and dominate with all of the solid attacking players we've got or we're going to watch them struggle for a 1-1 draw because they still haven't figured out how to move the ball in the final third. But I make a living telling people what they want to hear. So let's call it the first option for now and hold off on the panic button until afterwards.
Prediction: New England 0-3 Fire
Christian Hirschboeck
New England have been significantly worse than expected, and the Fire set the base for a good run of form with a win against Montréal.
Prediction: New England 1-3 Fire
Tim Hotze
The Fire are playing in a cavernous NFL venue where weather is likely to be a factor? We just saw how this story ends.
Prediction: New England 1-3 Fire
Matt Shabelman
First clean sheet of the year!
Prediction: New England 0-2 Fire
Match Information and How to Watch
Date and Time: Saturday, March 23, 2024, 1:00 p.m. CTLocation: Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Mass.Forecast: 47’ expected at kick-off, with 78% humidity, winds SSE at 11 mph, 100% cloud cover and a 95% chance of precipitation TV: Apple TV - MLS Season Pass
