All season I have tried to manage my expectations for the New England Revolution in 2026. They have absolutely overperformed those so far but now face a stretch run with so many injuries that even ninth place FC Cincinnati poses a significant threat to them tonight at TQL Stadium.
Now the Revs have been without striker Leo Campana for most of the season, had Luca Langoni and Ilay Feingold out for months in and around the World Cup break, and now are facing lengthy absences to Jack Harrison, Alhassan Yusuf, and potentially Mamadou Fofana.
Depending on how long Fofana is out as he's more week to week than the others, that is perhaps six starters who have missed significant time in New England. And while we can tout the exploits of Will Sands, Ethan Kohler, Matt Polster, and winger Peyton Miller as success stories covering for those injuries...at some point it becomes unreasonable to expect miracles from such a depleted team.
Sam Lattof
Just this month I have watched both my beloved Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Eagles try to win with essentially half a starting pitching rotation and almost no starting offensive players aside from Jalen Hurts and I can assure you it's not going well. Thank goodness the UConn Huskies basketball seasons are right around the corner.
Now, the Revs previous two losses to RSL and Seattle followed a similar track - concede early, give up two more later on, but overall not look like a dumpster fire despite the scoreline. Given what the Revs have available, this is a game state that could become very familiar over the next month. New England has struggled at times to score, Dor Turgeman's finishing woes have been noted extensively, but haven't been awful at possessing or moving up the field like it did the previous two seasons.
An attacking front of Turgeman, Miller, Gil, and Langoni is certainly potent enough to win you games, there's still supersub Daniel Gazdag and the capable trio of Yow, Fagundez, and Wilson Harris to help get the team through this stretch of midweek games. While this group is more than capable of nabbing some goals, they probably aren't going to help you win a goal fest either unless Dor ends up on a heater.
But the depth that is really being tested is the depth towards the back. Jackson Yueill has been fine next to Brooklyn Raines but the Revs have absolutely missed the late runs from Yusuf. Ilay Feingold should eventually start at right back.
These are tremendous minutes for Joshua Wynder to be getting in place of Fofana though we probably expected more minutes for him next year after a nice preseason camp. But after waiving Keegan Hughes, there's really only Tanner Beason at center back and Cody Baker at full back because Matt Polster and Peyton Miller should be/have been covering elsewhere. And it's not reasonable to expect a backline of Sands, Wynder, Kohler, Feingold, which is three players who began the year outside of the starting lineup and another who missed like three months, to hold down the fort.
Seth Macomber
This team is going to do their best, head coach Marko Mitrovic said as much with his "keep going" mentality, which is the only one you can have given the circumstances. It's entirely possible the Revs slip down to like sixth in the standings and while that might be disappointing given where they were, it's also about where we hoped this team would be if things went right in 2026.
Looking at the injury list so far this year, not a lot has gone right for this team. And they are still where they are despite that. So it's entirely possible this depleted squad still has a surprise or two in store for the fanbase. But we shouldn't expect miracles...unless Ray Kerr is available to play as an opening striker for the first half hour...
Anyway, joining us as always is great friend of the site and current NASR President Laurel Pfahler of Queen City Press to give us her take on Cincy's own struggles and lengthy injury list that thankfully were ended over the weekend in Atlanta with a late 3-1 win. It would have been the most Revs thing ever to be the reason that like 20 games of RSL and Cincy winless streaks came to an end in barely two weeks but it is amazing how many ills a striker can cure by finding a few goals like Kevin Denkey has recently.
Any Tee Higgins touchdown related fantasy throwball questions will have to be answered at a later date but be sure to follow Laurel (and her Bengals coverage!) and Queen City Press for all their coverage on today's game.
Thomas Pinzone
1) Let's start with the good, two late goals in Atlanta gave Cincinnati a 3-1 win over the weekend, what went right in that game in particular and how can Cincy build on that in the homestretch of the regular season?
Some big lineup changes really made the difference in that game. Newcomers Tyrell Malacia (former Manchester United left back) and David Douděra (played for Czechia in the World Cup, previously was with Slavia Prague) made their first starts for the club as the wingbacks, and Evan Louro started in goal ahead of a healthy Roman Celentano. Pavel Bucha filled in for Evander at the No. 10 instead of Dado Valenzuela, who has been struggling lately, and they played with two 6s with Obinna Nwobodo and Sami Gidi.
It wasn't perfect defensively, but it looked a lot better and they only conceded one really flukey goal that somehow snuck past three defenders, at close range, and off Louro's leg after he attempted to make a save on a ball he couldn't even see until last second. Louro made some good saves to keep them in the game and he is much louder and commanding than Celentano, so I think that was crucial for a defense that had some new players and that has been lacking vocal leadership since Matt Miazga's departure. In Evander's absence, you also saw forward Kevin Denkey really step up. He scored the first goal and then added insurance in stoppage time after Tom Barlow's game-winner in the 84th minute.
It was huge for FC Cincinnati to get that win. This is a team that hadn't won on the road since its only other victory away from home May 2, and it ended a six-game winless streak overall. New England is going to be a tough matchup, but FCC is feeling much better coming back from Atlanta with a win and the competitive juices flowing after those lineup changes. The guys who were pushed out of the starting lineup will probably be needed because of the quick turnaround, and they should have something to prove now.
2) Now the bad...that win snapped a six game winless streak, what wasn't working for the Orange and Blue that saw them dip to just three points out of six games since mid-August?
It's no secret FCC has struggled defensively this season, but it had been looking better coming out of the World Cup break. The staff rotated some key players for a home game against a very injured Seattle team, and the Orange and Blue came out flat and settled for an extremely disappointing draw. Then, they went to Nashville and laid an egg against the Supporters Shield leaders and it really unraveled from there with the departure of Miazga. That move really seemed to shake the team. He had been starting regularly and was playing a lot better than he did in the first part of the season when some little injuries were nagging, and he was the only really vocal player they had on the pitch at the time. His presence was missed so much that Noonan pulled Nick Hagglund back into the lineup after he had not played a single minute since May.
At the same time, the attack that had been the highest-scoring in the league through July started to struggle. Evander had an incredible stretch of 11 straight games with a goal contribution and scoring a lot of them himself, but it was like he hit a wall at some point. He had told Noonan in July that he needed others to step up because there were going to be games when he wouldn't have it, and those games finally came. Denkey went nine games without a goal at one point, as well, but now has five in the last four, while Evander has gone five games without scoring. They just haven't been on the scoresheet together in quite some time, and FCC really needs them both scoring goals.
3) Cincy now finds themselves in the dreaded 9th place spot, just barely good enough for the play-in game. Can the offense (3rd best in the East with 58 GF) carry the defense (2nd worst in East with 65 GA) in a playoff series if Cincinnati gets that far?
The offense is capable of it, but there have been too many times this season where no matter how good the attack has been, it wasn't enough because the defense couldn't hold a lead. I do think the defense will continue to improve, but now Miles Robinson is hurt and that is a big blow because he's the guy they are supposed to be able to rely on, so it will be interesting to see how the team handles that. Regardless, the attack needs to get back to where it was earlier this season when three and four goals a game were more common, to give this team a chance.
Projected Lineup (3-4-1-2) Denkey-Jabbari; Evander; Ramirez-Anunga-Bucha-Echenique; Chirila-Hagglund-Gidi; Louro
Injuries Robinson and Jose Martinez (rehabbing back from a February ACL tear) are out. Evander is coming back from a leg injury and might be on the bench, but I just don't see him sitting this one. I do think they will need to rotate with "Hell is Real" coming up Sunday against Columbus Crew. Not that the staff is looking ahead – they really can't afford to – but with Malacia, Doudera and fellow newcomer Julian Malatini still getting 90 minutes fit, I don't think they are ready for a short turnaround just yet. Malatini only played 18 minutes off the bench in his debut Saturday and hadn't played since ankle surgery ended his Bundesliga season with Werder Bremen in March. Malacia hadn't played since May, and Doudera has just two appearances since the World Cup, not going longer than 60 minutes yet.
Also, Obinna Nwobodo was feeling discomfort in his ankle during Saturday's game and it might be best not to push him, though he trained both Monday and Tuesday. All of that makes the lineup tough to predict. Both Denkey and Barlow played 90 minutes Saturday and neither one of them usually go that long, but I think they will be asking more of Denkey down the stretch. Maybe I will be wrong about the amount of rotation needed, and they'll push more guys than I expect out of necessity because of where they are in the standings.
Predictions It doesn't seem realistic given the injuries and rotation that might be needed, but I think FCC will come away with a 2-1 win. I think they play their best with their backs against the wall, and they need to keep climbing the standings. They'll be riding that momentum from Saturday.
