D.C. United versus New England Revolution lineup: 2nd-to-last pre-Wayne Rooney game

Wayne Rooney is now signed, but he can’t start until games that happen after the FIFA transfer window opens, which means we have a couple more until he can make his debut. One of those is tomorrow night against the New England Revolution, in which United takes on a shockingly decent Revs team. It remains our simple, but consistent refrain: United must bank points to make their season ending home stand work out, and they’re running out of time.

The questions are along the back line, where Nick DeLeon, Taylor Kemp, and Joseph Mora are all hurt. Oniel Fisher will start at one fullback slot, since he is the only currently healthy fullback. Steve Birnbaum moving out to right back has happened in the past, but with Kofi Opare still hurt as well, that plan seems unlikely. Therefore, I think that Jalen Robinson will get the nod at right back, unless Mora, listed as questionable on the injury report, can heal.

In the attacking midfield, we will see Zoltan Stieber, Luciano Acosta, and Yamil Asad all in front of Junior Moreno and Chris Durkin. One of this attacking group, along with the injured Paul Arriola, is the most likely to make way for Wayne Rooney once he is available, so they will all be looking to play at their best to show why they deserve to be on the field. Moreno and Durkin start together in the absence of Arriola and Ulises Segura, but also of note is that Russell Canouse could very well make the bench for this game. His return, perhaps by the opening of Audi Field, could have just as much effect on the field as the debut of Rooney.

Finally, Darren Mattocks is a lock to start over Patrick Mullins and Bruno Miranda, and I think has a strong case to be made to stay on the field when Rooney is starting too. What do you want to see Ben Olsen do tomorrow night?