Caleb Porter praised his "evolving" New England Revolution side as they prepare to face Vancouver Whitecaps on the back of consecutive wins.

In their opening 13 games, New England only had two wins on the board in the Eastern Conference, sitting bottom with seven points.

Though they still prop up the standings, they are now on 13 points after wins over Nashville SC and New York Red Bulls, with Porter hopeful they can keep building on this momentum.

"The biggest key is our mentality has been stronger," Porter said, as quoted in The Blazing Musket substack.

"We're finding ways to get results. That evolution, I'm very pleased with, so I think, for me, it's unquestionable, we're evolving in every aspect."

"We know we're in a hole, there's no doubt about it. We have to continue to fight our way out, and it's going to take every game, and it's going to take until the end of the season."

Vancouver, meanwhile, are fifth in the Western Conference after back-to-back victories of their own against Sporting Kansas City and Colorado Rapids.

After their mid-season break, Vanni Sartini is aiming to improve on some of the weaknesses shown in the first half of the campaign.

"I think we did okay [in the first half]," he said. "We're doing well. I think that we were doing very well defensively - I'd say the best in my years as head coach here.

"I think we can do a little more in the final third. We are playing well, but we need to be better at finishing the action more. If we can do that, we can aspire to go to the top four positions."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

New England Revolution – Carles Gil

Gil assisted Emmanuel Boateng on the lone goal of the match in New England's win Saturday. The Spaniard has been involved in seven (five goals, two assists) of the Revs’ 12 goals this season.

Vancouver Whitecaps – Ryan Gauld

Gauld assisted both of Vancouver's goals in their win over Colorado on June 1, taking him to 31 assists to go along with 30 goals in regular-season play.

The Scotsman is one of three players (Luciano Acosta, Hany Mukhtar) with at least 30 goals and 30 assists since he joined the MLS in August 2021.

MATCH PREDICTION: DRAW

The Revolution have lost only two of their 11 all-time meetings with Vancouver (W5 D4), including winning four of the six meetings at Gillette Stadium (D1 L1).

New England have also won back-to-back matches for the first time since July last year after winning just two of their first 13 league matches this season. All four of New England's wins this year have been by a one-goal margin.

Meanwhile, the Whitecaps have won back-to-back matches, recording 2-1 wins against Sporting Kansas City and Colorado Rapids. This is Vancouver's sixth set of consecutive wins since the start of last season, though they have not won three league matches in a row since September-October 2022.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

New England Revolution – 38.6%

Draw – 26.5%

Vancouver Whitecaps – 34.9%

Caleb Porter has praised New England Revolution's performances in recent weeks but admitted they are still working hard to improve their finishing, as they prepare to travel to Nashville SC.

New England sit bottom of the Eastern Conference with seven points having won just two of their 13 games so far this season.

More worryingly, the Revolution have scored just nine goals this campaign, and have failed to score in either of their last two defeats.

Porter said he is pleased with the progress his team are showing in their performances, but it would not matter if they could not hit the back of the net.

"It's easier when you can show them the film and there are a lot of positives, but it's tough when you're not getting results because the confidence isn't sky high," the Revs head coach said.

"These guys have had a great mentality and great attitude. They've come every day to training to work and improve, and we've focused a lot this week on the final third. I really feel that's the missing piece right now.

"The players know we're playing well from box-to-box, but to win games, you have to actually score a goal."

Nashville, meanwhile, sit in ninth, occupying one of the playoff spots after a four-game unbeaten run.

Interim head coach Rumbani Munthali earned his first win in charge with a 2-0 victory over FC Cincinnati in midweek.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Nashville – Hany Mukhtar

The Revolution are one of just five teams Hany Mukhtar has faced but never scored against in MLS.

He has only played more games against Cincinnati (six) and Philadelphia (five) without scoring against them than he has against New England (four).

New England – Carles Gil

New England's goal difference dropped to -17 following their defeat to New York City FC last Saturday.

The Revs have scored just nine goals all season, split among four players, with Gil their top scorer on four.

MATCH PREDICTION: NASHVILLE SC WIN

Nashville defeated New England 3-2 in the last meeting between the sides in October 2023. The first five encounters featured five total goals - also split 3-2 - in favour of the Boys in Gold.

Nashville are unbeaten in four straight MLS matches (won two, drawn two) following a 2-0 win over Cincinnati on Wednesday.

It has been nearly a year since the Coyotes have won consecutive league matches, last doing so during a four-match winning run between May and June last season.

The Revolution are the fifth team in the post-shootout era (since 2000) to lose 10 of their first 13 matches of a season, and the first since Montreal in 2018.

No team in the post-shootout era has recorded 11 defeats in their first 14 matches of a season.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Nashville – 51.2%

Draw – 24.8%

New England – 24%

New England Revolution head coach Caleb Porter wants his team to focus on their own game as they prepare to face the New York Red Bulls on Saturday.

The Revs sit bottom of the Eastern Conference standings with just seven points, though they ended a three-match losing run with a narrow 1-0 victory over the Chicago Fire last weekend.

Meanwhile, the Red Bulls sit in fourth, though they are winless in their last four outings after last week's 6-2 thrashing at the hands of a Lionel Messi-inspired Inter Miami.

Asked how he would prepare to face a side coming off the back of such a heavy defeat, Porter turned the focus back to his own team, saying: "I think we have to be more focused on our mentality.

"That was, last week, a point of emphasis: ‘Let’s work on our execution.’ In the game of football, if you do what you want to do, that's half the equation or more, and I thought we did that in the latter stages of the first half and the entire second half, and I think that was a big reason we won the game."

Youngster Esmir Bajraktarevic echoed his coach’s thoughts, noting how the Revs have caused some of their own problems this season.

He said: "I think the main thing is just playing our game. I think when you look back at most of our games, it's kind of us beating ourselves rather than the other way around.

"So, it's kind of just making sure that we're doing the best that we can, and the results will come."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

New York Red Bulls – Dante Vanzeir

Vanzeir recorded his eighth goal contribution of the season with the opening goal against Inter Miami on Saturday, the joint-most for the team this season with Lewis Morgan.

Only one player, Fabio in 2021, has recorded eight or more goal involvements in the Red Bulls’ first 11 matches of a season between 2019 and 2023.

New England Revolution – Tomas Chancalay

Chancalay scored the lone goal in New England’s win over Chicago Fire last Saturday. Since his debut last April, he has scored more MLS goals than any other Revs player, netting eight.

MATCH PREDICTION: NEW YORK RED BULLS WIN

The Red Bulls have lost only one of their last 19 regular-season home matches against New England (12 wins, six draws) dating back to September 2007 – a 3-2 defeat in July 2021 – scoring at least once in all 19 games.

Indeed, the Red Bulls are unbeaten in seven straight home matches in all competitions (four wins, three draws) including last season’s playoffs. New York, who have two wins and two draws on their own turf this year, haven’t started a season unbeaten in their first five home games since 2017.

However, New England ended a 17-match away winless streak in MLS play (incl. playoffs) with a 1-0 win over Chicago Fire on Saturday. The Revs have only won consecutive games on the road once since the start of the 2022 season, doing so in May-June 2022.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

New York Red Bulls – 44.4%

Draw – 28.7%

New England Revolution – 26.9%

Kellyn Acosta says the Chicago Fire need to be more precise with their ball progression if they are to end their barren run and begin to climb the MLS standings.

Frank Klopas' team sit 12th in the Eastern Conference and have failed to win – or even find the net – in three matches ahead of Saturday's clash with the New England Revolution. 

Chicago scored nine goals in their first five MLS matches in 2024 but have since netted two in their last five, and midfielder Acosta says composure is the key to improving their attacking output.

"It's a combination of moving the ball back to front and finding our forwards," Acosta said. 

"I feel like we've got to get them the ball in dangerous areas where they are bringing out their qualities, and I think we have not done a good job of progressing the ball to them."

The Revs, meanwhile, sit bottom of the East with just four points through their first nine matches under Caleb Porter, being thrashed 4-1 by a Lionel Messi-inspired Inter Miami side last time out.

Nacho Gil has joined several other New England players on a lengthy injury list, and Porter says the team must be cautious as they navigate a route through a testing spell. 

"If we're good with our planning… you can't avoid some injuries, but with soft tissue injuries, you can avoid a mistake," Porter said. 

"The medical staff, the sports science staff, they'll have a plan to reintegrate these guys where they can hit the ground running."

PLAYERS TO WATCH 

Chicago Fire – Brian Gutierrez

The Fire failed to record a shot on target in last week's goalless draw at home to Atlanta United, the third time they have done so since the start of the 2022 campaign. No other team has done so more than once in that time.

Gutierrez was limited to the role of substitute for that game, but as Chicago's leading scorer with three league goals this year, he will surely come in to start this one.

New England Revolution – Carles Gil

Carles Gil leads all Revs players for goals (three) and chances created (27) so far this season. None of his team-mates have laid on more than 11 chances this term (Tomas Chancalay). 

MATCH PREDICTION – DRAW

New England are winless in 17 MLS away matches (five draws, 12 defeats, including playoffs), in a run dating back to May 2023. Their longest ever winless run on the road in MLS is 18 matches between September 2016 to September 2017.

However, they may fancy their chances of taking something from Saturday's match, with Chicago only having two wins through their first 10 games of the season.

This is the sixth straight season in which they have failed to win at least three of their first 10 games of an MLS campaign. No other team in MLS history has done so in more than three straight years.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Chicago Fire – 37.7%

New England Revolution – 33.4%

Draw – 28.9%