Preview: DC United vs. New England Revolution | MLS is Back Tournament, Group C

MLSsoccer staff

2020 MLS is Back Tournament – Group C, Matchday 9
D.C. United vs. New England Revolution
ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex
Fri, July 17 – 8:00 PM ET

TV: ESPN, ESPN3 (Spanish); TSN in Canada

STREAMING: ESPN App; TSN App in Canada

It's a battle of familiar Eastern Conference foes, as D.C. United and the New England Revolution square off in Group C play of the MLS is Back Tournament.

New England (3 pts) can advance out of the group stage with a result following a 1-0 win over the Montreal Impact in their opener, while D.C. United will look to build momentum from a stunning comeback in a 2-2 draw against Toronto FC in their first MLS is Back Tournament match.

The sides played each other competitively last season, first battling to a 1-1 draw at Gillette Stadium on May 25, 2019 and ending in a 2-2 deadlock in the next matchup at Audi Field on July 12.

D.C. United

Things were about as bad as they could get for D.C. United in the first half, falling behind by two goals and then losing Junior Moreno to a second bookable offense deep in first-half stoppage time. But they battled back from adversity to secure a 2-2 draw as the ageless Federico Higuain scored on a delightful chip in the 84th minute to pull United to within a goal before Frederic Brilliant headed in the game-tying goal in the 91st minute.

Moreno will miss out due to suspension, setting up the potential scenario of Russell Canouse moving back into a familiar central midfield role.

"D.C. United has gotten goals out of attacking restarts. So that’s one of their strengths," Revs coach Bruce Arena told RevolutionSoccer.net. "They’re a physically big team especially with their center backs in [Frederic] Brillant and [Steve] Birnbaum and their striker [Ola] Kamara and one of their midfielders in [Russell] Canouse. So they have good size and that’s something we need to be concerned about. And their goalkeeper is outstanding, Bill Hamid.

Updated team roster
Injury Report:
- OUT: Paul Arriola (M) - knee injury
- OUT: Emmanuel Boateng (M) - hamstring injury
- OUT: Chris Seitz (GK) - calf injury
Suspended: Junior Moreno (M)
Suspended after next caution: None
International duty: None

New England Revolution

The Revs won their duels, Gustavo Bou scored a sensational goal and Matt Turner saved the day with a spectacular late save as New England bested the Impact, 1-0, on July 9. In his first match of 2020, influential playmaker and captain Carles Gil was credited with 12 chances created against the Impact.

After missing the opening match due to injury, Arena is hopeful that both center mid Wilfried Zahibo and center back Andrew Farrell will be available against D.C. United.