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Steffen Schmidt - February 22, 2023
Charlotte FC vs New England Revolution
USA MLS
Date: 26 February 2023, Sunday
Kick-off at 00:30 UK / 01:30 CET
Venue: Bank of America Stadium (Charlotte).
Charlotte FC have well confounded the expectations in their debut MLS campaign last year, finishing just six points below the playoffs positions in the Eastern Conference standings.
The Crown had an exceptional campaign in a season in which everyone predicted them to finish at the very foot of the Eastern Conference standings.
Their rise came alongside the appointment of Italian head coach Christian Lattanzio whose 4-3-3 formation with inverted fullbacks did miracles for Charlotte FC last season.
Lattanzio’s men will open the new campaign (their second-ever) on Saturday evening with the home fixture against New England Revolution.
The Revs won the Supporters’ Shield trophy and broke the total-points record in the process two years ago, but failed entirely to match these displays in the previous term of MLS.
New England finished the last season level on points with Charlotte FC, just outside of the playoffs picture in the Eastern Conference standings.
They are aiming a swift return to the top of both conference and overall standings in the 2023 MLS season.
The trip to Bank of America Stadium will represent anything but an easy task for Bruce Arena and his men but they did offer a decent pair of performances in the recent friendlies, meaning their fans have reasons for optimism ahead of the Matchday No 1 fixture.
Charlotte FC will be dangerous in the final third this season following the acquisition of striker Enzo Copetti from Racing Club. Lattanzio’s men bagged three goals in each of the previous two wins over Charleston Battery and Birmingham Legion (friendlies).
Nevertheless, we expect this one to be a tight affair between two teams of similar quality, each of whom are eyeing up a deep playoffs run this year. This is why we are tempted by the 2.15 odds offered for the Under 2.5 goals FT bet.
