Teal Bunbury gets his head on the ball against FC Dallas last month. Credit: Getty Images
The dog days of summer have not been kind to the Revolution as the club is winless thus far in August and has gone just 1-7-1 since the Fourth of July.
Despite their struggles, however, the Revs (8-12-3, 27 points) are still very much in playoff contention in the Eastern Conference as they sit just a point behind the New York Red Bulls for the fifth and final playoff spot. New England has 11 games remaining in the regular season.
The Revs certainly need to take care of business this coming Saturday (7:30 p.m., CSNNE) at Gillette Stadium when they will host Chivas USA – the basement dwellers of the Western Conference at 6-11-6 this season. New England has been much better at home than on the road this season as it has scored 17 goals at Gillette but only 13 on foreign turf. The Revs have also allowed fewer goals at home than on the road as they have a home goal differential of plus-7 and a road goal differential of minus-13.
The reasons for the Revs’ struggles of late have more to do with offensive futility than a leaky defense and weak goaltending. Keeper Bobby Shuttleworth has only let one game get away from him this summer – a 5-1 loss in Carson, California to the Galaxy. Not counting the July 16 blowout loss, Shuttleworth had allowed just 1.42 goals per game since the beginning of July. The offense has scored two or more goals just once since July 4, not surprisingly their only victory – a 3-0 blanking of Colorado in Foxboro on July 30.
After their meeting with Chivas USA Saturday, New England will take on Toronto FC in Canada on Aug. 30.
Notes: Forward Charlie Davies, a Manchester, New Hampshire native, looks to be in the midst of a hot stretch as he has tallied a goal in each of the past two Revs games. He snuck the ball inside the far post this past Saturday at Gillette, scoring the only goal in New England’s 1-1 tie with the Portland Timbers.
Follow Metro Boston sports editor Matt Burke on Twitter: @BurkeMetroBOS
