The Vancouver Whitecaps will not underestimate the fight of the New England Revolution

VANCOUVER — The Vancouver Whitecaps know the Major League Soccer standings can be deceiving.

Just because a team is at the bottom of the table doesn’t mean it will be an easy opponent. So the Whitecaps (7-5-4) will be ready when they face the New England Revolution (4-10-1) in Foxborough, Massachusetts on Saturday.

New England is currently last in the Eastern Conference standings, but is riding a two-game winning streak after beating the New York Red Bulls 1-0 last weekend.

“I think they’ve had a really bad start, but I think they’ll get better and better,” Whitecaps defender Ranko Veselinovic said. “If we go there thinking it’s going to be easy, it’s going to be bad for us.”

Vancouver also enters the game on a two-game winning streak, but has not played since a last-minute 2-1 victory over the Colorado Rapids on June 1.

The break was a necessary one for a club that played nine games in six cities over 29 days. Still, getting the momentum going after the break can be a challenge, Whitecaps head coach Vanni Sartini said.

“The nice thing is we had a full week of practice where we could work on these things,” he said.

Vancouver will need to make some tactical adjustments before Saturday’s game. The team will be without defensive midfielder Andres Cubas, who is playing a trio of friendlies with Paraguay’s national team. The Caps will also be without winger Ali Ahmed, who was called up to Canada’s men’s squad on Thursday.

Relying on a variety of players will be key as the club moves into the second half of the season where they will balance league play with the Canadian Championship and League Cup tournaments, more players will go on international duty, and injuries and fatigue will be likely. crawl in.

“We showed we have depth,” Sartini said. “We showed that we don’t have 30 players, but we have at least 17, 18 guys who can start at any time.”

One player who has stepped up recently is Sebastian Berhalter.

While Sartini has used the 23-year-old American midfielder as a substitute in the early part of the season, Berhalter’s crisp passing and staunch defense have earned him a spot in the starting lineup in three of Vancouver’s last four games . He scored his first goal of the season in the Caps’ win over the Rapids.

“I think I just had to be patient,” Berhalter said of his recent play. “I think it was a tough couple of months when I didn’t play, they showed up (as a subtitle).

“It was just something where I was like, ‘Okay, I’m going to enjoy this time and try not to let it get to me.’ And then to have that mindset of enjoying the in-between made me keep kicking it, flipping it and then you start, you feel good and you keep going.

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS (7-5-4) AT NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION (4-10-1)

Saturday, Gillette Stadium

Ins and outs: In addition to Ahmed and Cubas, Vancouver will be without defender Sam Adekugbe, who is still working his way back from a calf strain, and midfielder Alessandro Schopf, who missed practice with an illness this week. Revolution midfielder Matt Polster will miss the game due to suspension.

HISTORY BOOKS: New England is 5-2-4 in all-time meetings and is undefeated in the last five games between the two clubs. However, the ‘Caps haven’t played the Revolution since June 26, 2022, when they battled the visiting team to a 0-0 draw at BC Place.

ROAD WARRIORS: The Whitecaps will play six of their next seven games on the road. The team has a 4-2-2 record in road games this season and is tied with Real Salt Lake for the most road points (14) in the Western Conference.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on June 14, 2024.

Gemma Karstens-Smith, Canadian Press