Revolution look to rebound vs. Whitecaps (Aug 12, 2017)
No pressure, but the New England Revolution have no other option but to win Saturday's match against the Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
That's the way the Revs' Juan Agudelo sees it, at least.
"It's probably the biggest game of the season," Agudelo told the team website before New England hosts Vancouver in its lone August home game at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.
New England (7-10-5, 26 points) is sitting well below the playoff line in 10th place in the Eastern Conference table with 12 MLS matches remaining this season.
The Revs have lost back-to-back matches, being outscored 7-1 in the process. New England was routed 4-1 by the Chicago Fire last Saturday, with Kei Kamara scoring New England's only goal.
Agudelo, Kamara and Lee Nguyen are all tied for the team lead with eight goals this season.
Reinforcements have arrived for the Revs after the team signed of Hungary international striker Krisztian Nemeth. This comes on the heels of the club signing of French defender Claude Dielna in July.
The 28-year-old Nemeth last played with Al-Gharafa in Qatar after a transfer from Sporting Kansas City in 2016. Dielna trained with the Revs for the first time on Thursday.
Vancouver (9-8-4,31 points) is also outside the playoff picture, sitting seventh in the West -- one point behind the sixth-place San Jose Earthquakes.
The Whitecaps are winless in their last three matches (0-2-1) and played the Colorado Rapids to a 2-2 draw last Saturday. Tony Tchani and Freddy Montero each scored goals for Vancouver.
Montero has four goals in his last five appearances after scoring just five in his first 16 MLS games for the Whitecaps.
"He's just working harder, rolling his sleeves up and he's wanting to do the nitty, gritty jobs you need to," Whitecaps coach Carl Robinson told the team's website of Montero, who has a team-leading nine goals this season.
Vancouver also made moves ahead of the close of the transfer window, signing Egyptian center mid Aly Ghazal and acquiring center back Aaron Maund in a deadline day trade with Real Salt Lake.
Diego Kobayashi (hamstring) and Josh Smith (lower back) are both questionable for the Revolution.
Brett Levis (ACL tear), David Edgar (PCL, MCL tear) and Alphonso Davies (right Adductor strain) are all sidelined for the Whitecaps.
New England defeated Vancouver 2-1 in their lone meeting last season, with London Woodberry and Kelyn Rowe netting goals for the Revs and Nicolas Mezquida scoring for the Whitecaps.