Toronto can claim their first home triumph of the 2025 Major League Soccer campaign when they host a surging New England Revolution side on Saturday at BMO Field.
The Reds are 14th in the Eastern Conference table following a 1-0 loss to New York City FC, while the Revs are just a point below the playoff line, defeating Charlotte FC by that same score.
Match preview
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Robin Fraser has put such an emphasis on defence this year that his Toronto players look lost in the attacking third at the moment.
Last weekend, his side failed to fire a single effort on target against NYCFC, the fourth time this year that they have been shut out in an MLS contest.
At the same time, their backline have come a long way over the past few weeks, conceding a goal or fewer in five successive league games and posting two clean sheets.
That strong backline has kept them in numerous matches, though they have rarely found that extra gear when needed, with three of their five domestic defeats this year being by a single goal.
So far in 2025, they have not created nearly enough opportunities to have a chance to win, with the third-fewest big chances created (16), according to FotMob.
TFC have won their previous two meetings with the Revs in this competition, failing to concede a goal in either of those outings.
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Despite another slow start to a Major League Soccer campaign, New England have started to come to life over the past few weeks.
Caleb Porter's side had just one point in their first four regular-season affairs, but they enter Saturday's contest on a three-match winning run.
Another triumph this weekend for New England would equal their longest winning streak in league play from the previous MLS campaign (four).
Like Toronto, the Revolution have been much tougher on the backline in recent games, posting three successive domestic clean sheets.
If they can keep the Reds off the scoresheet this weekend, it would mark the longest run in MLS without conceding for New England since 2022 (four games).
The Revs have points in four of their previous five visits to BMO Field, with their last victory in Toronto coming in 2023 (2-0).
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Team News
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Lower body injuries kept Henry Wingo, Zane Monlouis, Richie Laryea, Deandre Kerr and Derrick Etienne out of the Toronto lineup against New York City.
Charlie Sharp and Maxime Dominguez made their first MLS starts for Toronto last weekend, while Theo Corbeanu and Tyrese Spicer netted in their Canadian Championship defeat to CF Montreal on Wednesday.
Last week, New England were without Andrew Farrell and Malcolm Fry due to leg injuries, while Wyatt Omsberg was sidelined because of a hamstring strain.
Carles Gil made his 175th start across all competitions for the Revs a week ago, scoring the only goal of that game, while Ignatius Ganago collected his 200th appearance for the club and Matt Polster made his 200th career MLS start.
Toronto possible starting lineup:
Johnson; Thompson, Long, Rosted, Petretta; Flores, Coello; Bernardeschi, Insigne, Osorio; Spicer
New England Revolution possible starting lineup:
Ivacic; Ceballos, Fofana, Beason; Bye, Polster, Gil, Yusuf, Miller; Campana, Ganago
We say: Toronto 0-1 New England Revolution
The Revs are starting to get their act together, and we believe their momentum will propel them to another victory on Saturday against a Toronto team struggling to create much in the attacking third.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
