The New England Revolution have a chance to tie the MLS regular-season record for points this weekend when they head to the sunshine state for a date with Orlando City on Sunday at Exploria Stadium.
With 69 points from 31 games, the Revs are three points behind the mark set by Los Angeles FC in 2019, while the Lions are sitting pretty when it comes to qualifying for the postseason, currently tied for third in the Eastern Conference with the Philadelphia Union on 46 points.
Match preview
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In a city with a theme park as one of its feature attractions, perhaps it only makes sense that this season has been a roller coaster ride for Orlando.
That is one way to describe the 2021 campaign for Oscar Pareja and his side, who appear to be back on course for a playoff spot after losing four in a row last month.
Wednesday was a tale of two halves for the Lions, who were sharp in the opening 45 minutes and were rewarded with a late goal before allowing CF Montreal back into the match in the second half with an equaliser early on in a game that ended 1-1.
At this stage of the season, you will take the points whenever you can get them, especially when you consider that Orlando were in a tailspin coming into October, hovering just barely above the playoff line.
Their recent form has allowed them an opportunity to battle for second place in the Eastern Conference, a place that they had been in for an extended portion of the year before hitting a September slump.
The Lions' biggest strength in the early stages of the season was their ability to defend, allowing only two goals in their opening six games, and they have rediscovered how to play sound defensively, conceding only twice in their last three games while facing no more than three shots on target over that stretch.
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This year has been an incredible ride for Bruce Arena and the New England Revolution, who have smashed through all challengers in their way, picking up a fourth successive road victory on Wednesday.
For an hour, it seemed as though DC United were going to keep the explosive Revs in check, but with a side, so potent all it takes is one opportunity for everything to change, and the Black-and-Red found that out this week, as New England came from behind to capture a 3-2 win.
With three games remaining in their regular season, New England need only a win and a draw to make regular season history, but that is not the only milestone we could witness this weekend.
A win on Sunday would move Arena into a tie with Sigi Schmid for the most all-time in the regular season among MLS coaches, and should they be able to avoid defeat, it would also guarantee that the Revs beat their record of the fewest losses set in 2005 (seven), while also extending their current unbeaten run to nine straight games.
At this point, it seems like only a matter of time before they capture their first-ever Supporters' Shield title, with a nine-point cushion over the Seattle Sounders heading into this game, meaning that a win would give them that trophy.
New England head into this encounter with four straight victories away from home, the second time that they have accomplished that feat this year and only the third time in which they have done so in their history.
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Team News
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Chris Mueller picked up his third goal of the year for the Lions earlier this week, putting him in a tie with Tesho Akindele, while Daryl Dike collected his third assist of the season on the play.
Antonio Carlos missed their midweek affair with a yellow card suspension, while Joao Moutinho could miss another match with a lower-body injury.
Junior Urso picked up his 50th regular season cap for the Lions on Wednesday, while Uri Rosell was in the starting lineup for the first time since August 7 and Alexandre Pato saw his first action since their opening fixture against Atlanta United.
Revs goalkeeper Matt Turner made seven saves against DC for his 40th career win in MLS and 16th this year, which ties the single-season club record set by Matt Reis in 2005 and Bobby Shuttleworth in 2014.
In his 60th MLS start for New England, Carles Gil scored his fourth goal of this campaign, while Gustavo Bou tallied the winner, his 29th for the club, moving him into 10th all-time in franchise history and Adam Buksa had five shots in their fixture on Wednesday, as he is now over the century mark in that department in 2021, while in the process setting a new Revolution record.
Tajon Buchanan went over 3,000 minutes played in the league, as the soon-to-be former Revs winger featured for 81 minutes on Wednesday, Brandon Bye eclipsed the 8,000 mark for minutes played in his MLS career and Tommy McNamara recorded a pair of assists for only the second time in his career.
Orlando City possible starting lineup:
Gallese; Ruan, Schlegel, Jansson, Smith; Mendez, Urso, Mueller, Pereyra; Nani, Dike
New England Revolution possible starting lineup:
Turner; Jones, Kessler, Farrell, Bell; Bunbury, Traustason, Buchanan; Gil; Bou, Buksa
We say: Orlando City 1-2 New England Revolution
It would seem only appropriate that the magical season for New England hit another high note on Sunday in the magical kingdom that is Orlando, as the Revs can smash a few more records in this one.
Orlando seem to have found their footing defensively, but the league leaders only need a couple of half-chances to turn a game around, while they are pretty comfortable in one-goal affairs, winning 17 of them this year.
Top tip
Joel Lefevre
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Orlando City win with a probability of 46.92%. A win for New England Revolution had a probability of 29.66% and a draw had a probability of 23.4%.
The most likely scoreline for a Orlando City win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.32%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (7.97%) and 2-0 (6.94%). The likeliest New England Revolution win was 1-2 (7.18%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (10.7%). The actual scoreline of 2-2 was predicted with a 6.3% likelihood.
