New England Revolution v Nashville SC: Porter holding out hope for playoff spot

Caleb Porter still believes New England Revolution have an outside chance of making the playoffs if they win all their games, starting with Nashville SC.

The Revs currently sit bottom of the Eastern Conference on 28 points and are eight points behind Philadelphia Union in ninth.

They are winless in their last five matches though, alternating between losses and draws, and were heavily beaten 4-0 by Charlotte FC last weekend after Dylan Borrero’s sending-off.

Porter remains hopeful, though even he admits it may be just out of the Revs’ reach.

“I might be stupid, but I still believe that we can win all five [games] and get in [the MLS Cup Playoffs] somehow,” he said, as quoted in The Blazing Musket substack.

“That is the approach that I’m going to take. But if we don’t, we are building for the future and I expect, obviously, that we continue developing and keep building.

“We want to give the fans hope and something to look forward to and the right message that we are continuing to grow and that even though this season has been difficult, there is going to be a light at the end of the tunnel.”

Back to work. pic.twitter.com/gOaZT073DW

— New England Revolution (@NERevolution) September 24, 2024

Meanwhile, Nashville are five points and three places better off than their opponents, after an impressive week saw them win two and draw one of their games.

Head coach BJ Callaghan was left frustrated by some decisions in their 2-2 draw with FC Cincinnati but expects his team to be stronger for it.

“We’re a team and a locker room that talks about responding to adversity, training responses, not having emotional reactions to things, so that’s part of the game,” Callaghan said.

“Decisions are made, and it’s our job to respond and move forward.”

PLAYERS TO WATCH

New England Revolution – Aljaz Ivacic

New England’s 4-0 defeat to Charlotte on Saturday was the club’s 13th loss by multiple goals in the 2024 regular season.

The Revs have kept just one clean sheet in their last 13 MLS outings (5-0 win over Montreal), and Aljaz Ivacic will be desperate to improve on that run.

Nashville SC – Sam Surridge

Sam Surridge scored both of Nashville’s goals in the 2-2 draw with Cincinnati on Saturday.

Each of the last four multi-goal games by a Nashville player, including all three this season, have been by Surridge.

Super Sam makes the @MLS Team of the Matchday https://t.co/4JlaypLGey pic.twitter.com/aynN7neqze

— Nashville SC (@NashvilleSC) September 23, 2024

MATCH PREDICTION: NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION WIN

Three of the four meetings between New England and Nashville in Foxborough have ended in draws, with the Revs winning the other meeting 1-0 in March 2023. There have been three total goals scored in the four matches, with two of those coming in the 1-1 draw in the Leagues Cup meeting on August 6.

New England are winless in four straight regular season home matches (D3 L1), though each of the last three home games have finished level. This is their longest regular-season winless run in Foxborough since a five-match drought in March-September 2020.

Meanwhile, Nashville are unbeaten in three straight matches (W2 D1) following an eight-match regular-season losing streak. Nashville won their last away match 2-0 at Atlanta United but have not won consecutive regular-season road games since May-June 2023.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

New England Revolution – 44.2%

Draw – 26.8%

Nashville SC – 28.9%