New England Revolution vs Toronto FC Prediction: Toronto are more than happy to share the spoils.

New England Revolution and Toronto have both started the campaign on the wrong foot. And while it's too early to hit the panic button, both clubs are careful to avoid dropping away vitals very early in the season. They are two ambitious teams and right now those ambitions have taken a slight hit after day 1. 

New England Revolution lost 3-1 to DC United on day 1 while Toronto played a goalless draw with Cincinnati away from home. 

It's now day 2 of the league campaign and both sets of fans will hope their team can get the first win of the season.

New England Revolution

New England Revolution are bearing the fruits of a horrible preseason campaign. Their struggles were clearly visible on the opening day against DC United and now they need to prove to their fans that they are ready to meet their expectations in the new season.

The talking point of the 3-1 defeat against DC United on opening day was probably the red card decision against Giacomo Vrioni in the 25th minute. DC United took the lead less than 10 minutes later and New England Revolution managed to grab an equalizer in the 67th minute. But it seemed like the defeat was inevitable, as DC United grabbed 2 more goals later in the second half. 

Caleb Porter will be in total defense of his 4-2-3-1 formation in the game against DC United and he'll blame the result on the early red card. Maybe that was true or not will definitely be discovered in the coming game. New England Revolution were not too far behind on the stats record at the end of the game and that's some form of consolation. They had 46% possession, 5 shots on target and 3 counter attacks.

Caleb Porter will most likely rely on the 4-2-3-1 formation ahead of the game against Toronto FC. Bobby Wood is expected to make the starting lineup in place of Giacomo Vrioni who will miss the game after picking up a red card in the last match.

Toronto

Toronto FC only secured one point against FC Cincinnati in the opening game. The result was a huge relief for John Herdman and his team, who were second best in the game. They were hardly rated to get anything meaningful from the game but 1 point might just be the right result instead of a stinking defeat.

John Herdman deployed a 3-4-2-1 formation in the game against FC Cincinnati and they were able to keep things tight throughout. The stats showed they were not far behind in possession (49%) and they managed 3 shots on target. But on the opposite side of the pitch, there was little involvement with 0 big chances created throughout the 90 minutes. It was more of a defensive approach for Toronto FC in that game.

Now the team is looking ahead to another challenge and most likely a tough game again. And John Herdman will have to decide whether to stick to the defensive approach or change the style of play.

Prince-Osei Owusu hardly made any positive impact on the game in the strike position. He had 0 shots on and off target and had just 16 touches in the 62 minutes he played. He's likely going to play that role against New England Revolution, but it will be a miracle to expect a different performance unless there's a significant change in the team's look.

Head to Head

According to the h2h record, in the last 20 meetings New England Revolution won 8 matches and Toronto won 6 matches and they played a draw in 6 games.

Analysis and Predictions

It looks like a cagey affair from the looks of it. New England Revolution are more than ready to risk it all for a win, but Toronto are more than happy to fight for a point. However if there's ever going to be a win, then New England Revolution will be the team to have it.

According to the h2h, New England Revolution have not lost the last 5 meetings and Toronto are without a clean sheet in the last 3. The last 6 meetings have ended with less than 4.5 cards.

• New England Revolution to Win or Draw and Under 3.5 Goals at 1.94 Odds
• New England Revolution to Win or Draw and Under 3.5 Goals at 1.94 Odds
• New England Revolution to Win 1-0 at 9.50 Odds