New England Revolution for New York Red Bulls Prediction, Preview and Odds - 6/23/21
New England vs. New York Red Bulls
The 2021 MLS season continues Wednesday, June 23, with 12 games on the schedule, including the Eastern Conference showdown between the New England Revolution and New York Red Bulls. The Revs meet the Red Bulls for the second time this term, as New England outlasted New York 3-1 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough on May 22.
New England aims for its fifth straight victory
After that 3-1 home win over the Red Bulls, the Revs have recorded a couple of road victories at Cincinnati 1-0 and New York City 3-2. New England is now riding a four-game winning streak, sitting atop of the Eastern Conference with 20 points and a 14:9 goal difference, five points clear of the second-placed Orlando City.
The Revs were pretty lucky to get all three points against New York City. Their rivals missed the penalty early in the first half, and the Revs allowed 18 shots towards their goalie while taking just eight in a return. Anyway, New England showed strong character to break a 2-2 tie with just two minutes left in the second half.
The 24-year-old striker Adam Buksa leads the way for the Revs with four goals in nine appearances, while the 28-year-old Spanish playmaker Carles Gil has four assists in nine outings. New England cannot count on midfielder Luis Caicedo (leg), but all other guys are ready to go.
New York searches for its third straight win
The Red Bulls are coming off a 2-0 home victory to Nashville FC this past Friday, tallying their second win on the spin. New York kept the ball in possession for 58 percent of the time and took five shots more than their rivals (13-8), while the 24-year-old Brazilian striker Fabio finally scored his first goal in the MLS.
Fabio is the Red Bulls’ assist leader with four dishes in eight appearances. Midfielder Caden Clark is the club’s top goalscorer, netting four times in eight games, while another midfielder Cristhian Casseres added three goals in seven outings this MLS season.
The Red Bulls are now sitting at the fifth spot of the Eastern Conference standings with 12 points out of eight contests and a 12:10 goal difference. They’ve kept the clean sheet just once in the last four outings overall, recording a couple of wins and losses in that span. The Red Bulls still cannot count on Youba Diarra (muscle) and Aaron Long (Achilles), while Andrew Gutman (hip) is questionable to play Wednesday.
Pick: New England -132
The first meeting of the season between these two foes was a tight battle for most of 90 minutes even though New York had to deal with the First-half red card. The Red Bulls took the lead after just seven minutes of play, but the Revs overcame the deficit until the break and scored their third goal with eight minutes to go in the second half. New England fully deserved to win, taking a whopping 23 shots (11 on target) and keeping the ball in possession for 57 percent of the time.
The Revs are perfect in four outings at home this season, so I’m backing them to stay on the winning track. New England is a -125 fave to win this clash, and the hosts should deliver, as the Revs are arguably a better team than New York. They love to control the ball in the middle of the park, and with the likes of Carles Gil and Matt Polster, I’m expecting the Revs to dominate the Red Bulls.
Total:Over 2.5 Goals
The previous clash between the Revs and Red Bulls produced four goals in total, and I think we should expect a similar scenario in another duel at Gillette Stadium. Both teams prefer an attacking approach and are among the most efficient teams in the MLS this year.
Both Teams to Score YES sits at -147 odds which is another tempting move, as four of the last five contests between the Revs and Red Bulls saw goals on both sides. Also, the Red Bulls have managed to find the net in each but one of their previous 13 games on the road while keeping their net intact just twice in the process.
