The line up for the Conference finals in the 2021 MLS Cup Playoffs will be completed on Tuesday night when the New England Revolution host New York City FC for the right to take on Philadelphia Union for a place in the MLS Cup final.
The Revs were head and shoulders the best team in MLS in the regular season but they’ll have seen the top three seeds in the Western Conference bite the dust and that will give NYCFC the confidence they need to go to Gillette Stadium and keep their hopes alive.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live and in full on the two channels which cover this league – Sky Sports Football and Free Sports. The build-up to the match begins at 12.40am and the kick off is five minutes later at 12.45am.
New England Revolution
The New England Revolution had the Supporters’ Shield won very early on this season but to their credit they didn’t do what a lot of teams do when their primary aim has been secured and slump to finish the campaign. They lost their last match of the regular season but prior to that their form had been very good so they’ll go into these playoffs in decent form. The big hurdle to overcome is the fact it is 23 days since they last played a competitive match.
That is a long time between drinks and we saw an 18 day break get the better of the Colorado Rapids in the Western Conference last week. If the Revolution can overcome that, and one thing which will help is the fact a number of their players were on international duty since their last match, then you’ve got to think they have the technical ability, the heart and the fight to make it through this match but they would do well not to take New York lightly.
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New York City FC
You’d have to say it was a mixed regular season for New York City FC but they finished it unbeaten in five matches and then eased past a competitive Atlanta United in the opening match of the playoffs. That win will have given them a lot of confidence and belief because they haven’t always been the most reliable team when it comes to the postseason. In fact, we often see them in the position that New England are in this season and they don’t step up to the plate.
NYCFC will know they have lost two and won just the one of the three matches these two geographically close rivals have played this season but in both those defeats they only went down by the odd goal whereas their win was by two goals. The Revs will also be pretty quick to point out that they rested everyone for that match as it came in the middle of a crazy spell of action. Either way, New York know they can beat New England so this match might be about whether they can rise to the occasion.
Betting
We’ve seen a number of shocks in these playoffs so far but I don’t see that trend continuing here. I thought Columbus Crew were the best team in MLS last year and they showed that when it mattered most and I expect New England Revolution to show it here. I’m not going to hide the fact that I think a 23 day break is a significant negative but Bruce Arena has seen it all before and the 2021 coach of the year will ensure his players are ready to go here.
A big problem for New York City FC is the injuries to Keaton Parks and Anton Timmerholm. They are not just two of their best players in key positions but they are experienced and have that calmness a team needs at this stage of the season. NYCFC did well to overcome Atlanta but I felt Atlanta froze on the occasion and I certainly don’t expect New England to do that. The MLS Cup runs through New England and I expect them to be hosting the Conference final after a win inside 90 minutes here.
Tips
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