New England Revolution v Charlotte FC: Mitrovic defends youngsters after cup exit

New England Revolution head coach Marko Mitrovic defended his younger players after their U.S. Open Cup defeat.

The Revs lost 4-3 against Orlando City during the week, despite taking the lead on three different occasions at Gillette Stadium.

All but three of New England’s starters were 22 years old or younger, with Gabriel Dahlin, Javaun Mussenden, Shuma Sasaki and Schinieder Mimy all making their first-team debuts.

The defeat came after a six-game unbeaten run in all competitions (W5 D1), with their most recent MLS game ending in a 1-1 against Inter Miami.

The Revs host Charlotte FC this weekend, and Mitrovic came to the defence of his younger players ahead of the match.

“I think that if we want players to play, we have to give them that opportunity,” Mitrovic said.

“We can always hesitate. I think every player makes mistakes on the field, but when a young player makes a mistake, we always connect that with their age.

“I don’t think that’s fair. A lot of times, we have a young player, and they didn’t have a good game, then look to another player with the most experience, but he still doesn’t have a good game.

“I’m very happy when we have opportunities to give young guys that chance to play.”

Our U.S. Open Cup run comes to an end#NEvORL • #USOC2026 pic.twitter.com/tO8QJSoBYI

— New England Revolution (@NERevolution) April 30, 2026

Charlotte are two points behind New England in the Eastern Conference, in fifth, but they find themselves on a three-game losing run.

Dean Smith’s side also lost in the U.S. Open Cup against Atlanta United, while they were defeated by Nashville SC (4-2) and Orlando (4-1) in their last two MLS games.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

New England Revolution – Don Turgeman

Dor Turgeman has been involved in seven goals in his first six regular-season home matches for New England (four goals, three assists).

Turgeman contributed to at least one goal in five of those six appearances, including scoring against the Columbus Crew in his last home league game.

Charlotte FC – Pep Biel

Pep Biel has been involved in nine goals in his last eight regular-season away matches (four goals, five assists), including scoring at Nashville last Saturday.

Only four players (Lionel Messi, Anders Dreyer, Denis Bouanga, Son Heung-min) have been involved in more goals on the road since that run began last June.

MATCH PREDICTION – DRAW

The away team won both meetings between New England and Charlotte in the 2025 season, with the Revs winning 1-0 at Charlotte and the Crown recording a 2-1 win at New England.

Charlotte’s win at Gillette Stadium last year was their first-ever road points against the Revolution (they lost the first three).

New England are unbeaten in their last seven home matches (W5 D2), including winning all four of their home matches to begin the 2026 season.

The Revs have won their first five home matches of a season only once in club history, doing so at the start of the 2021 campaign.

Charlotte have lost three of their last four regular-season matches (W1) after losing just three of their previous 20 in league play (W14 D3). They have conceded eight times in their last two matches after allowing just 10 goals in their first eight matches of the season.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

New England Revolution – 40.4%

Draw – 26.6%

Charlotte FC – 33%