Preview: Toronto vs. New England Revolution - prediction, team news, lineups

The Supporters' Shield leaders scored two first-half goals last weekend to edge the Philadelphia Union 2-1, while the Reds came back to draw New York City FC 2-2.

Match preview

A new coach has made a big difference in the play of Toronto FC over their last seven matches, although they cannot seem to get out of the Eastern Conference basement despite that.

With only one defeat in their last seven games, Javier Perez had the interim tag removed from his title as he was promoted to full-time manager of the club.

On Saturday, the Reds fell behind 2-0 after only 21 minutes of play but were able to turn it around quickly in the second half with two goals in six minutes to earn a point.

Perez still has a lot of work to do to fix the leaky defence of TFC, who have conceded a league-high 38 goals this season.

After allowing only one goal on four straight occasions, they were beaten handily 3-0 by the Philadelphia Union before conceding multiple goals once again versus the Pigeons.

BMO Field was one of the toughest places for visiting sides to play in past seasons, but the Reds have yet to win in their four encounters in the Ontario capital this year, drawing in each of those games.

We are more than halfway through the regular season, and the New England Revolution are starting to pull away from the other teams in the Eastern Conference, sitting 10 points clear of second-place Orlando City after 19 games.

Their victory on Sunday was not only their 200th in the regular season, but they also reached the 40-point mark in only 19 games, the fastest they have ever reached that milestone in franchise history.

Bruce Arena, who became the second coach in MLS history to reach 230 wins all-time last weekend, has this team believing that they can finally capture their first league title after losing in the MLS Cup final on five previous occasions.

Not only have the Revs been well-coached by one of the greatest managers in MLS history, but you would be hard-pressed to find a weakness in this side at the moment, unbeaten in their last six games, winning five of those matches.

Their last defeat came at the hands of TFC in early July, with New England perhaps feeling a little overconfident, playing a side who had just suffered a 7-1 defeat before facing them.

New England appear to have been humbled since conceding three goals to Toronto, as they have kept three clean sheets over their current unbeaten stretch.

Toronto Major League Soccer form:

New England Revolution Major League Soccer form:

Team News

For Toronto, Ayo Akinola is out with a torn ACL, while Tsubasa Endoh, Auro and Dom Dwyer all have lower-body injuries.

Alejandro Pozuelo scored the equaliser versus New York, his first goal of the season, while Perez employed a back four last Sunday instead of a back five like they had against Philly with Chris Mavinga as the odd man out.

Ifunanyachi Achara notched his first assist of the year in their last match, midfielder Jonathan Osorio has started the previous two games since returning from the Gold Cup with Canada and defender Justin Morrow has been on the bench to start in their previous two fixtures

Arena has said that midfielder Carles Gil has a muscle tissue injury but he added that there is no timeline as to when he might return, Luis Caicedo remains out with a lower-body injury and Jon Bell is questionable with the same problem.

Andrew Farrell made his 255th career start for the Revs last Sunday, surpassing Shalrie Joseph for the most regular-season starts in club history, while he also passed former keeper Matt Reis for the second most minutes played all-time for New England and Gustavo Bou is now tied with Raul Ruidiaz for the league lead in goals, scoring his 11th over the weekend versus the Union.

It seems like Tajon Buchanan will not be with the club much longer as the latest reports indicate that he has narrowed his list of potential European clubs to three, reportedly one Bundesliga side and two teams who will be taking part in the Champions League this year.

His teammate DeJuan Jones could soon also be on the move as he is being linked to several top-flight clubs in Germany.

Toronto possible starting lineup:

Bono; Laryea, Gonzalez, Zavaleta, Morrow; Bradley, Delgado; Osorio, Pozuelo, Mullins; Altidore

New England Revolution possible starting lineup:

Turner; Bye, Farrell, Kessler, DeLaGarza; Polster, Traustason, Buchanan, McNamara; Buksa, Bou

We say: Toronto 2-2 New England Revolution

Toronto are unbeaten at home and are playing much closer to their capabilities, but they have left goalkeeper Alex Bono hanging out to dry on several occasions lately and have rarely been able to shut down teams who are far less potent than the Revs.

There is no denying that New England are probably the most talented offensive unit in MLS at the moment, but they have yet to prove that they can keep the ball out of their own goal consistently.