New York City Football Club welcome New England Revolution to Yankee Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Here are the Keys to the Match presented by Ford.
Battle Of The 10s
NYCFC and New England have some notable tactical differences, but one overlap between the two is the use of a traditional playmaker.
Maxi Moralez, while not the only creative outlet, is the chief architect for NYCFC in the final third. The veteran’s soccer IQ and tempo setting help create chances for his teammates and are often central to the team controlling the game.
Carles Gil serves a similar role for the Revs. The Spaniard, like Moralez, will float across the forward line seeking to inhabit pockets of space, and while may not always play the final pass, chances are he’ll be involved in some capacity.
Often times when two players in this mold meet it is a battle of wills and supply. Maxi’s teammates can aid his efforts in this battle by doing two things: cutting the supply line to Gil, and making sure Maxi gets the ball regularly.
Get The W
Interim Head Coach Nick Cushing wasn’t wrong when he said on Sunday that sometimes a draw at Yankee Stadium can feel like a loss.
The Boys in Blue have made their Bronx base a fortress of sorts, and they need to lean on that again this Saturday. The team have still managed to pick up points since returning from the international break, but the time for a big win is this Saturday.
The team are moving into the second phase of the campaign, and kick-starting that with a victory will be the jolt of momentum that’s required.
Press, Press, Press
One of the central themes from Sunday’s draw with Atlanta United was how consistently NYCFC pressed their opponents.
It’s impossible to press for the full 90 minutes of a game, but when executed in the right moments, it can disrupt a team’s rhythm and force them to create their own defensive problems. That’s certainly what it did against Atlanta and helped NYCFC regain possession so they could build out their own attacks.
Using pressing as the foundation could help NYCFC establish control of possession and in turn greater control of the game.
