New England Revolution head coach Caleb Porter wants his team to be "smart" and find the right balance at the Gilette Stadium, as they prepare to welcome the Columbus Crew.

The Revs began the MLS season with a 0-0 draw at Nashville SC last Saturday, leaving them in 11th place in the early standings of the Eastern Conference.

Last season, New England won just nine games, though five of those victories came on home soil. However, they have now won any of their last five MLS matches, going back to last season.

Porter is excited to be back at the Gillette Stadium and believes any chance of a playoff push hinges on strong home form.

"You have to be smart," Porter said, as quoted in the Blazing Musket substack.

"Some teams do poorly at home because they go and open themselves up. We want to be balanced as a team in every game this year, home and away.

"What I mean by that is how we attack, how we defend, the balance of how we play, the consistency of how we play. We want to be very clear, which means we'll always look to defend really well, [and] we'll always look to score goals also. But mostly we're looking to win."

Columbus, meanwhile, sit top of the East after one match, having stormed to a 4-2 comeback victory over the Chicago Fire in their opener.

The Crew had a good record on the road last season, recording nine wins and five draws in 17 away games, and are looking to replicate that form again in 2025.

"It has been the focus since the first training when I came here because I wanted to respect (road matches)," head coach Wilfried Nancy said.

"It was a discussion and a mindset. We play to win the game."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

New England Revolution – Carles Gil

Carles Gil has never recorded a direct goal contribution in nine career regular-season matches against Columbus (three secondary assists), the only Eastern Conference opponent he has never been directly involved in a goal against in his career.

Columbus Crew – Diego Rossi

Diego Rossi scored twice in the Crew's win over the Chicago Fire on Saturday, becoming the fourth player in team history, and first since Federico Higuain in 2014, to score multiple goals in their season opener.

MATCH PREDICTION: COLUMBUS CREW WIN

Columbus are unbeaten in eight straight matches against New England (W3 D5), winning the last three in a row. This is the Crew's longest unbeaten streak against the Revs in all competitions (92 matches).

The Crew's 4-2 win over Chicago on Saturday marked the 16th time they have scored at least four goals in a match in all competitions since the start of the 2023 season, more than any other MLS team in that time. Columbus had four games with at least four goals in the previous five seasons (2018-22).

They face a New England side that are struggling. They have won only two of their last 16 regular-season matches (D4 L10), including going winless in five straight (D1 L4). The Revs have just one six-match winless run in league play since the start of the 2019 season: six straight in June-July 2022.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

New England Revolution – 20.6%

Draw – 21.4%

Columbus Crew – 58%