New England Revolution v Charlotte: Porter buoyed by winning mentality

Caleb Porter believes the New England Revolution possess a winning mentality that means they will not give up on their playoff ambitions.

With eight points separating them from a playoff spot and only seven regular-season matches remaining, the Revolution face a challenging task of avoiding missing the postseason in consecutive years for the first time since 2018.

However, they gave themselves hope with a 2-1 win over the Columbus Crew.

And ahead of a home clash with high-flying Charlotte FC, that victory over the Crew provided a much-needed confidence boost.

"Our group has a great mentality, a winning mentality. These guys are fighting, grinding, clawing, scrapping," said Porter. 

"We are playing consistently, we are defending really well. We just got a great result on the road. We are really focused on the next game. Right now I feel good about the group, and they feel good about themselves. This next game is the most important thing."

Charlotte head into Saturday's clash having won their last three MLS outings 1-0, with the most recent coming at home against New York Red Bulls on Monday. 

Currently sitting fourth in the Eastern Conference, Charlotte are in with a great chance of finishing in the playoff spots, and find themselves just seven points off first-place Philadelphia Union. 

Having signed for Middlesbrough during the summer, forward Adilson Malanda has been loaned back to Charlotte to see out the remainder of their campaign.

"We give everything to get results. It's another step, and we want to go forward, and keep it working well to achieve things," Malanda said.

"I've spent three incredible years here, we've just kept improving. I've really enjoyed my time here, it is not done."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

New England - Carles Gill

Gil notched his 10th assist of the season on Saturday, marking his fifth MLS campaign with double-digit assists since joining in 2019.

That tally ties him with Cristian Espinoza and Nicolas Lodeiro for the most 10-assist seasons in the league over the past seven years.

Charlotte - Idan Toklomati

Toklomati set up the decisive goal in Charlotte's win over the New York Red Bulls last time out.

He has now delivered either the game-winning goal or assist in each of Charlotte’s last four MLS matches. 

Toklomati has seven goals to his name this term, too.

MATCH PREDICTION: CHARLOTTE FC WIN

Charlotte are on a seven-game winning streak in MLS, matching the longest single-season run of victories in the league over the past seven years. The last time a team went on a longer streak within one season was the Seattle Sounders, who won nine straight in 2018.

Dean Smith's team have recorded 10 clean sheets from their 28 matches this season, a number bettered only by the Vancouver Whitecaps with 11. Four of those clean sheets have come in the last four games, going on a run of 420 minutes without conceding a goal. 

Despite going into the game as favourites, Charlotte lost 1-0 to New England in April, the Revolution’s fifth win in seven all-time meetings. All five of the victories were by a single goal, while both losses were by multiple goals.

New England's fortunes at home in recent months have been a mixed bag, having won just one of their last nine games at Gillette Stadium. 

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

New England: 30.9%

Draw: 25.1%

Charlotte: 44.0%