Building It Out From The Back
Legendary coach Bruce Arena stepped into the role of New England Revolution Head Coach back in May 2019 following a dismal start to the regular season under Brad Friedel. His experience within the sport spoke for itself, and he was awarded the position of Head Coach and Sporting Director, giving him total control on who comes in off the pitch and how they play on it.
The Revs were known for their leaky defence, and Arena immediately set to work on building everything his side did out from the back line, paying particular attention to blending together the experience of the likes of Andrew Farrell with young talents such as Dejuan Jone and Brandon Bye.
The foundations set, the Revs' form dramatically began improving. Arena's new side registered some seriously impressive results across the 2019 regular season against the likes of Orlando, NYCFC and LA Galaxy on their way to stunning our MLS parlay picks and reaching their first postseason since 2015.
Who Should You Look Out For At The Tournament?
Whilst their defence was the focus last season, it's clear Arena has had his sights set on giving Major League soccer some of the most exciting attacking talents this year.
Carles Gil
was named MLS Newcomer of the year during 2019 and became the club captain, and the Revs broke their transfer record twice bringing in forwardsGustavo Bou
andAdam Buksa
in January and the offseason respectively.It's a frontline that might just take everyone by surprise.
What's The Stand Out Game?
Nestled in a group with
D.C. United (+3000)
,Toronto FC (+1000)
andMontreal Impact (+1800),
a lot is going to be riding on the Revs' opening game against the Impact. Toronto will obviously be tough, but you would imagine the firepower of Bou, Gil and Buksa should be enough to see off D.C., meaning it's likely automatic qualification from the group will all depend on this one game.The game is currently scheduled for July 9 at 8:00PM EDT.
Our prediction NE to lose out to Toronto, but edge out D.C. and Montreal Impact to finish 2nd in Group C
What Are The Odds?
When the MLS Is Back Tournament was first announced, the Revs were on the back to regular season games played and were without a win in either of them. They had taken the lead in both games against Montreal and the Fire however, indicating that they weren't as far off as people might have thought. They were also without Carles Gil for those games.
They had pre-group stage draw outright soccer odds of
+3000
, but those dropped down to+2800
once it was revealed who they would be playing against.What do you make of Bruce Arena's side heading into the competition? Will Gil, Bou and Buksa cause an upset? The MLS Is Back Cup promises to be an exciting and unpredictable tournament which we cannot wait to begin covering as it all unfolds! Check out all of our latest MLS predictions as well as our brand new MLS Parlay calculator so you never miss out on the action!Sign Up and never miss out on any of the Action!Keep up to date with all the latest goings on in the MLS and the world of sport at William Hill!
