Philadelphia go into the New England game without the player at the centre of their 15-match unbeaten run. Cavan Sullivan, with 7 goals and 14 assists, is out with an ankle injury, and Jesús Bueno misses out with a hamstring problem, so both of the Union's midfield spots are being patched at once. That would matter less against most opponents. It matters here because New England's season has been built on absorbing pressure and letting Carles Gil decide games.
The Revs' own preview makes that point almost by accident. They held off 19 Chicago shots in their 1-0 win last time out, and Matt Turner has 120 saves this season, which is a lot of saves for a side with the second-fewest goals conceded in the East. This is a team that is comfortable soaking up volume. Philadelphia are the side best equipped to test that, with 61 goals and no scoreless game since the start of May, but plenty of that volume came from the freedom Richter gave Sullivan going forward.
So the duel I keep coming back to is the one Philly Soccer Page picks out: Jovan Lukić against Gil. Gil leads MLS in key passes and settled the May meeting with an 87th-minute goal. If Lukić is also covering for a reshuffled midfield next to him, with Quinn Sullivan only recently back in form after ACL surgery, he may not get to stay as tight on Gil as he'd like.
New England have holes of their own. Jack Harrison (six assists in seven games since arriving) and Alhassan Yusuf are out, and Mamadou Fofana, Will Sands and Leonardo Campana were all listed as game-time decisions. The stakes aren't symmetrical either: a Union win clinches a playoff place, while the Revs are already in and playing for home advantage.
The Union's first game without Bueno was the 2-2 with Charlotte, the result that ended their eight-game winning streak. One match isn't a pattern, but it's the closest look we have at a thinner Union midfield. Can Philadelphia still generate enough to beat Turner while their main creator watches?
