:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/photo_images/2670281/GYI0064634686.jpg)
The New England Revolution will return to the friendly confines of Gillette Stadium Wednesday night when they take on the Colorado Rapids in an East versus West mid-week clash. Since posting back-to-back wins against Portland and Los Angeles in late March, the Revs have dropped three straight over a harrowing month of April, managing to score just once while giving up four goals to their opponents. The Rapids, meanwhile, just made a mockery of everything Chivas USA stands for with a 4-0 pasting in Denver, and sit comfortably in fifth in the West, with a .500 record.
New England has to find some way to stop making careless mistakes in the back if they have any hope of getting points. Colorado is beatable, especially at the Razor, but players like Kamani Hill, Jaime Castrillon, and Omar Cummings are never easy to deal with. Also, the Revs have shown distressing wastefulness in front of the net lately, with Saer Sene in particular wasting some golden opportunities in the last few weeks. This has to change if the boys in blue want to win games again in 2012. The chances have been there, but they are worthless if left unfinished.
Colorado has run an attractive 4-3-3 formation this season, with players like Revolution alum Jeff Larentowicz, Cummings, Castrillon, and MLS vet Brian Mullan pulling creative strings and shoring up the middle and final third. The Rapids also have a solid defense, but injuries have mixed things up in the back and created some vulnerability. Matt Pickens remains a force in goal. Overall, Colorado is a solid team, if not a sensational one; the Rapids were the same type of team in 2010, when they were MLS Cup Champions. This is not a team for the Revs to take lightly.
Ryan Guy is out for this match with calf tightness, joining usual suspects Florian Lechner (metatarsal), Jeremiah White (concussion), Zak Boggs (DL), and Sainey Nyassi (DL) on the injury report. Otherwise, it appears New England will have a full complement available on Wednesday night.
Colorado has the all-time advantage in this series, with the Revs sporting an 11-18-9 record. At home, however, New England is 8-6-5 against the Rapids, suggesting that the friendly confines of Gillette Stadium may give the Revs some help in this match. Last season, both encounters ended in draws, with a 0-0 result in Foxboro and a gritty 2-2 draw in Colorado that saw New England eke out a result despite going down to ten men.
The match will be televised live on CSN at 8 PM EST. 98.5 The Sports Hub will handle the radio call.
For more New England Revolution coverage, visit our team page and blog, The Bent Musket.