Charlotte v New England Preview: The Boys Hit The Road With The Streak Alive
Don’t look now but Charlotte FC is sitting in fourth in the east. The club has rattled off seven straight wins and head to New England in search of their eighth straight win. New England has had a rougher year than Charlotte, currently sitting in 11th place. While the Revolution have struggled at home, going 3-8-2, Charlotte isn’t much better on the road with a record of 4-9-1 away from The Fortress. Will the streak stay alive or will the home crowd propel the Revs to victory?
Now let’s get into the lineup. I think it will be similar to the one we saw against New York last week with one change. The one change I think Dean will make will be at the left back position. New signing Harry Toffolo picked up an injury in his debut and as a result, I think Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty will get the start in Harry’s absence. The back four will consist of Marshall-Rutty and Byrne on the flank with a center back pairing of Tim Ream and Adilson Malanda. Moving on to the midfield, Pep Biel is still out so I think the men in the middle of the pitch will be Diani, Bronico and the man with the armband, Ashley Westwood. The attacking three will consist of Zaha and Vargas on the wings with Toklomati as the main striker. Once again, the man in net will be Kristijan Kahlina.
Now let’s talk about my match prediction. I think Charlotte picks up three points and has a chance to move into a tie for third in the conference (depending on the Nashville result). I think Charlotte dominates the game and when the whistle blows, the scoreboard will read 2-0 in favor of Charlotte. The first goal will come from Idan Toklomati in the 28th minute on a nice cross from Wilfried Zaha. That score will hold until the half but coming out of the break we will be treated to more flips courtesy of Kerwin Vargas. Kerwin will receive a pass from Brandt Bronico and work his way past the New England defense to put one in the back of the net in the 66th minute. After a celebratory backflip, the defense will hold off any New England attack and when the whistle blows, the boys will head back to the Queen City with three points.
Kickoff is set for 7:30 pm tomorrow night.
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