Preview: Toronto FC host New England Revolution in massive "six-point game" at BMO Field

It’s the biggest match of the 2022 Major League Soccer season for Toronto FC as the Reds play host to the New England Revolution at BMO Field on Wednesday evening.

For a Toronto team looking to keep its playoff hopes alive, it’s essentially a must-win.

Bob Bradley’s squad (12th in East, 29 pts) enters trailing New England (8th in East, 33 pts) by four points in the Eastern Conference table. A loss at home to the Revs would create a seven-point gap between the two teams with less than 10 games remaining as Toronto tries to sneak into the seventh-and-final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

"You look forward to every match. You look forward to trying to grow as a team, making sure that when you step on the field, that everybody is excited, that there's football ideas, that the mentality is right. Yeah, when you get to the end of the year when you're playing teams that are there in the standings, and now they can come, as people call them, six-point games, then yes, those games are bigger,” Bradley told media at the BMO Training Grounds when asked how big of a match Wednesday’s game was.

“But the process of understanding how you play in these games – concentration, ability to try to control the game, the collective mentality that in hard games there might be a little moment or a stretch in the game where it doesn't go perfectly but how to play through that – these are the items that good teams handle well in the biggest matches, so hopefully we're growing in those ways,” he added.

Both teams enter the match in strong form. TFC have yet to lose in the league since the debuts of Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Bernardeschi on July 23, picking up 10 out of a possible 12 points over that span. Their only slip-up came in a 0-0 draw vs. the Revolution at Gillette Stadium on July 30, with Insigne failing to convert a late penalty that would have likely earned Toronto a massive win on the road.

The club will be looking for another strong performance out of their new Italian superstars, as the two have been involved in nine of Toronto FC’s last 11 goals, including the last two goals scored in Saturday night’s 3-1 win over Portland Timbers.

Richie Laryea has also been just as impactful down the right flank, registering three assists and winning a penalty in two games since re-joining TFC on loan from Nottingham Forest, while his Canadian national team teammate Jonathan Osorio leads the team with nine goals this season, including three in his last three games.

"The reason that we're on a good stretch is that the football is getting better,” Bradley said. “Our ideas moving forward, our way of moving up as a team, our organization that when balls turn over that we can defend quicker and better. There's reasons that things go in a good direction, so you want to keep as much of that as possible and keep improving on that."

New England, meanwhile, are also unbeaten in their last four games, picking up a pair of wins vs. D.C. United and Orlando City SC, while drawing TFC and Columbus Crew. After a slow start to the year, the defending Supporters’ Shield winners have only two losses in their last 16 games, dating back to April 30.

Quite impressively, the Revs haven’t conceded a goal since a 2-1 away loss on July 16 to the Eastern Conference leaders, Philadelphia Union – a span of four matches. If they find a way to keep Toronto off the scoresheet on Wednesday, it’ll be the first time in club history they have gone five consecutive games without conceding.

"New England has qualities of a Bruce Arena coached team,” said Bradley. “They're organized, they compete. Bruce has a good feel for getting good players in the right spots, letting them play, letting that speak for itself. So, if you watch them and you see the freedom that Carles Gil has and the way they as a team understand how to use him, that's a simple type of understanding of things. That's what Bruce brings."

On the injury front, New England have been shorthanded of late and will continue to be as they may have to contend without a pair of key pieces in both DP striker Gustavo Bou and 20-year-old winger Dylan Borrero, who have been sidelined since July 16. The duo is listed as questionable for Wednesday’s match.

TFC, on the other hand, may be without Mark-Anthony Kaye for the fifth consecutive game. The CanMNT midfielder has been sidelined with a lower-body injury, with coach Bradley unable to give a definite timeline for his return following Saturday’s match. He did participate in parts of training on Tuesday, with Bradley telling media afterwards that the box-to-box midfielder was “doing more” and that “it’s a question as to every day, what he’s capable of doing.”

Wednesday will also mark a bit of a homecoming for Revs’ defender Omar Gonzalez, who spent the last three seasons with TFC, registering 64 appearances before signing with New England as a free agent this offseason. The centre-back has fallen out of favour with his new team, only playing a total of three minutes since June 12.

Kickoff is at 7:30 pm ET.

INJURY REPORTS

Toronto FC – Quentin Westberg (OUT), Noble Okello (OUT), Mark-Anthony Kaye (QUESTIONABLE)

New England – Jacob Jackson (OUT), Henry Kessler (OUT), Ismael Tajouri-Shradi (OUT), Dylan Borrero (OUT), Gustavo Bou (OUT), Maciel (OUT), Giacomo Vrioni (OUT)

PREDICTED TFC STARTING XI

(4-3-3) Alex Bono; Richie Laryea, Lukas MacNaughton, Chris Mavinga, Domenico Criscito; Jonathan Osorio, Michael Bradley, Jayden Nelson; Federico Bernardeschi, Jesús Jiménez, Lorenzo Insigne

BETTING LINES

Toronto FC (+102) | New England Revolution (+290) | Draw (+220)

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