CHESTER, Penn. – The New England Revolution (7-13-1; 22 pts.) head south down I-95 to battle the Philadelphia Union (4-10-9; 21 pts.) on Wednesday night at Subaru Park. The midweek match kicks off at 7:30 p.m. ET and is available to watch on MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app in English and Spanish. Listen to the Revolution’s local radio calls on 98.5 The Sports Hub, with Brad Feldman and Rachel Wood calling the match, and 1260 AM Nossa Radio USA in Portuguese.
The Revolution are set to re-ignite their intense regional rivalry against Philadelphia in their second meeting of the 2024 MLS campaign. The Union collected a 3-0 victory over New England in the first encounter on May 18, in a match where the Revolution played down a man for the majority of the contest after an early red card. New England and Philadelphia have been evenly matched in recent years, with each team claiming three wins and two draws in the last eight meetings dating back to 2021. The Eastern Conference sides have met twice in the last four editions of the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs, battling in the 2020 and 2023 postseasons, with each team prevailing once.
New England enters Matchday 27 just four points shy of the playoff line in the Eastern Conference, with two games remaining before MLS enters its summer break for Leagues Cup 2024. The Revolution are winners of three of their last five road matches dating back to May 4. On the other end, Philadelphia has tallied just one victory in its first 11 home games this season, posting a 1-6-4 mark at Subaru Park. Since defeating New England on May 18, the Union are winless in their last 10 matches, including a 2-1 loss to Toronto FC at BMO Field last weekend.
The Revolution will aim to rebound from last Saturday night’s 3-1 defeat to Orlando City SC at Gillette Stadium. Forward Giacomo Vrioni continued his torrid scoring form with a goal in the 23rd minute, assisted by defender DeJuan Jones and midfielder Esmir Bajraktarević. Vrioni continues to be one of the most in-form strikers in MLS, as his six goals in the last six games are tied for fourth most in the league during that span. The 25-year-old leads New England with a team-high eight tallies in MLS this season, while his 13 shots on target since June 1 are tied for second most in MLS.
Bajraktarević, a Homegrown winger who has already posted career highs for appearances and minutes played this season, has featured in the Starting XI for seven consecutive matches. The 19-year-old recorded his second assist of the MLS campaign last weekend. Across all competitions, Bajraktarević owns three goals and six assists in 2024. Two fellow Revolution Academy products featured against Orlando, as midfielder Jack Panayotou (Cambridge, Mass.) logged his second straight start, and forward Malcolm Fry (Groton, Mass.) made his MLS debut as a late second-half substitute.
The Revolution have been forced to battle through injuries for much of the season, including the notable absence of captain Carles Gil for the last four games, though Head Coach Caleb Porter gained a versatile asset with the return of midfielder Tommy McNamara to the starting lineup. McNamara posted a 56-minute performance in his first start of the season, while defender Brandon Bye recorded his second consecutive start on Saturday, playing 88 minutes. New England’s backline and goalkeeper Aljaž Ivačič will be aided by the return of central defender Xavier Arreaga from his one-match absence due to yellow card accumulation.
