Los Angeles Galaxy v New England Revolution (MLS)The Galaxy suffered a humiliating loss on the road in week 14 as they fell to DC United by a score of 4-1 at RFK Stadium. Had it not been for their keeper Steve Cronin, the result could have been even more lop-sided as United practically had their way with LA in the second half. The lone highlight for the Galaxy was the goal scored by Edson Buddle. The top striker now has at least 1 goal in his last 4 games and is 2nd on the club with 10 for the season. With the loss Ruud Gullitˇ¦s boys remain in first place of the Western Conference with 21 point for the year and hold a 2 point edge on 2nd place Real Salt Lake. At this time 2 of the clubˇ¦s back up keepers have been ruled out for this match in Charles Alamo and Josh Wicks. Meanwhile, midfielders Peter Vagenas and Alvaro Pires join striker Carlos Ruiz on the doubtful list. In the case of Ruiz there is speculation that he may be involved in a trade this week and therefore his status remains questionable. Brandon McDonald is a candidate to take over for Alvaro Pires if he cannot start.
The New England Revolution returned to their winning ways in week 14 with a strong 2-1 win over Toronto FC at Gillette Stadium. New England had suffered a shock defeat away to Real Salt Lake last week which had snapped their unbeaten run at seven games. Two goals from playmaker Steve Ralston provided the side managed by Steve Nicol with all the scoring they would need. Ralston was named the MLS player of the week for his performance. With the win New England sit in 1st place of the Eastern Conference with 30 points and hold a 4 point lead on 2nd place Columbus though the Crew does have 2 matches in hand. This week New England are away to take on the Western Conference leaders of the LA Galaxy. The potential for a number of injury absences exists this week as top striker Taylor Twellman is listed as doubtful along with back ups Gary Flood, Rob Valentino, Wells Thompson, Amaechi Igwe, Adam Cristman, Khano Smith and Kheli Dube. The good news is that starting striker mansally will be available and could come right into the lineup for Dube who has been doing quite well in his place. Nicol could be forced to employ some heavy turnover this week as in addition to the potential injury absences the Revs faced Richmond in a US Open Cup match just 3 days prior to this game. New England won that match by a score 0-3 with the aforementioned Twellman and Igwe starting that game.
In their last 5 meetings, New England Revolution recorded 4W-1D-0L. BF Index recorded on EC2WIN.com at 12:00 on Friday, July 4, 2008 is 39/29/32, indicates most monies are betted on the Home Win but the margin is so small. According to the historical data in this season, New England Revolution recorded 4W-5D-3L when the BF Index 20-50 away. Kelly Index 0.03/0.02/0.04 rates the Draw is the most likely result. So, bet on the Away Team in the Asian Handicap Market would be a good choice.
Pick: New England Revolution (+0.25)
Editor-in-charge: Hugo
The team and player stats and information of this article is provided by Soccer International
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