Match Preview: Charlotte FC at New England Revolution

April 5, 2024 – Major League Soccer (MLS)
Charlotte FC News Release

CLTFC has an even 2-2-2 record this season, including impressive home results over some of the best sides in the Eastern Conference.

Now, the team faces the New England Revolution in a good opportunity to record their first away win of the season.

Match: Charlotte FC at New England Revolution

When: Saturday, April 6

Where: Gillette Stadium

Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. ET

Watch: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV – How to Watch & Listen

Listen: WFNZ 92.7 FM (English) & WOLS 106.1 FM (Spanish)

Winning Away from Home

So far this season, Charlotte FC has secured incredible results at home, including wins over NYCFC and defending MLS Cup Champions Columbus Crew, and a draw with defending Supporter’s Shield champions FC Cincinnati.

Away from home, though, CLTFC has not picked up the same number of points (despite some impressive performances). They have secured only one draw to go with two losses. With a trip to Massachusetts up next to face a struggling New England Revolution side, there is pressure on the team to figure out their road performances.

In Major League Soccer, a league with a huge footprint and long travel, it has long been considered very difficult to pick up road results – arguably more so here than in other leagues around the world.

However, Head Coach Dean Smith disagrees with that sentiment:

“The big thing for me is the change of mentality. And that’s been one of the biggest surprises for me [since arriving in MLS]: that I think everybody believes that it’s so hard to get points on the road. I’m not necessarily in that seat.

“I’ve traveled to Vancouver, to Toronto, and to Nashville. And I don’t think any of those journeys have resulted in us not getting the results on the day. I think some of the decisions we’ve made on the day are the reasons we haven’t gotten the win.”

Saturday’s away match, then, should be a good test of this mentality Smith referenced. He also added some spice to the matchup towards the end of the press conference after New England Head Coach Caleb Porter’s pre-match comments promising a win were shared with him.

Smith mostly referred to the fact that coaches have an influence on the outcome of matches, but ultimately, they can’t control all the other variables: players, referees, the weather, etc.

He continued by saying, “[That’s] not a great statement to make if that’s down to your team and not something that you can actually keep.”

Regardless of intent from either side, both coaches…