The New England Revolution, who have nothing left to play for, will host New York City FC on Sunday who does have a lot to play for. The blue side of New York is fighting to hold onto second place in the Eastern Conference as it would give them a bye in the first round of the playoffs along with 2017 MLS Supporters' Shield winners, Toronto FC.
Past meetings
Since NYCFC's entry into the league in the 2015 season, the two clubs have split the series evenly. Both NYCFC and New England have taken three wins from eight games while drawing the other two.
The most recent meeting took place nearly two months ago when NYCFC picked up a 2-1 win at Yankee Stadium. Teal Bunbury picked up the opener and gave the Revs the lead in that match in the 57th minute after Sean Johnson fumbled the ball on the goalline. Luckily for NYCFC, they have the 2016 MLS MVP who never fails to come up big when it matters most. David Villa scored the equalizer in the 77th minute. He later helped set up Jonathan Lewis' 90th minute game-winning goal later in the match.
Team News:
New England Revolution: The Revs have a pretty healthy roster following the international break. In fact, no player is definitely going to miss the match. Kelyn Rowe is listed as questionable as he suffered a right knee strain in the last meeting between the two clubs. Revs fans will be hoping to have the player back as soon as possible.
New York City FC: NYCFC will have a longer injury list than the hosts but it is not nearly as severe as it was just a few weeks ago. With just two players injured, one missing through yellow card accumulation and one still serving international duty, NYCFC will be missing four players in total.
The two injured players are both players who have been out for a lengthy period. First up, Maxime Chanot. The defender had hernia surgery in August and is set to return soon but will not be available on Sunday. The other player missing through injury is Miguel Camargo. The Panamanian picked up a non-displaced hip fracture in the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup over the summer and will likely miss the remainder of the MLS season.
The main source of creativity will be missing in the midfield for the New York club as Maxi Moralez will be serving his one-game suspension he picked up through yellow card accumulation. The final player that will not be at Patrick Vieira's disposal on Sunday is James Sands. The homegrown player is currently with the U17 United States team in India for the FIFA U17 World Cup.
What's next?
Following the match on Sunday, New England will begin preparing for their final match of the season as they head over to Saputo Stadium as they take on the Montreal Impact. The two clubs will be fighting for nothing but pride as they are both out of playoff contention. On the other hand, there is still a lot on the line for NYCFC. Following Sunday's game in New England, NYCFC will finish off the season by hosting Columbus Crew SC. With Atlanta United FC right on their tails, NYCFC will have to try to take as many points as possible from Sunday's match as well as the match vs Columbus to hold on to the second place in the Eastern Conference.