Atlas FC face the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium as the Round of 32 in the 2023 Leagues Cup continues.
The Los Zorros finished atop East 3 with a pair of 1-0 victories over NYCFC and Toronto FC and have gone 378 consecutive minutes without conceding a goal, dating back to the beginning of their Liga MX season.
In what is New England's 1,000th competitive game, the Revolution lost a penalty shootout to the New York Red Bulls but rebounded to thrash Atletico San Luis 5-1 to finish second in East 4.
With an unbeaten record at home this season (9-0-2) and a 9-1-1 lifetime record against Mexican opposition, New England will be a tough nut to crack for Atlas.
The winner of this match will advance to the Round of 16 against the winner of the all-LIga MX tie between Pumas UNAM and Queretaro FC.
Team news
Atlas FC
It's been a season of turnover for Los Zorros with manager Diego Cocca replaced with Benjamin Mora taking his place and leading the club to the Clausura quarterfinals.
Star striker Julian Quinones, winger Ozziel Herrera and forward Julio Furch departed in the offseason with Jordy Caicedo, who scored the match-winner against Toronto, among five new faces brought in.
Jeremy Marquez and Brian Lozano didn't make the trip to Toronto with muscle discomfort and their status for this match is unknown.
Manager and sporting director Bruce Arena was placed on administrative leave for inappropriate remarks with Richie Williams taking his place in the dugout.
Nacho Gil made his season debut against San Luis and could see more minutes in this match.
Tommy McNamara saw some minutes for Revolution II and is getting closer to fitness as he eyes a return to the first team.
Christian Makoun has been sidelined for the last eight games while Dylan Borrero (ACL), Henry Kessler (hamstring) and Maciel (Achilles) remain unavailable.
Predicted lineups
Atlas FC: Vargas; Abella, Nervo, Santamaría, Reyes; García, Rocha, Martínez; Aguirre, Caicedo, Guzmán
New England Revolution: Petrović; Jones, Romney, Farrell, Bye; Harkes, Kaye, Buck; Gil; Bou, Vrioni
Ones to watch
Aldo Rocha (Atlas FC)
He's been the key man for Los Zorros so far, notching the match-winner against NYCFC and assisting on their goal against Toronto. With three goal contributions in Atlas' last five matches, the captain is leading by example.
Nearing his 100th appearance for the club, Rocha was influential in the club's 2021 Apertura and 2022 Clausura titles, earned Liga MX’s Best Defensive Midfielder honors for the 2021/22 campaign and was also named to the 2022 All-Star roster.
Giacomo Vrioni (New England Revolution)
His hat trick against San Luis took his total on the season to eight goals and provided an excellent response to his miss in the penalty shootout loss to the Red Bulls.
.jpg)
Tallying five goals over his last six games, Vrioni is not only finding his form but is combining well with New England's other attacking options.
Previous meetings
Atlas and New England have met once before with the Revolution coming out on top 1-0 in the 2009 North American SuperLiga quarterfinals.
Kenny Mansally scored the lone goal of the match to send the defending champions into the semifinals.
How to watch
The match will be televised in the United States and Mexico on Apple TV + with Tony Husband as the play-by-play announcer and Ross Smith serving as analyst.
Kickoff is set for 8pm Eastern time.