Where does the Revolution's Losing Streak fit in MLS History?

With eight straight defeats, the New England Revolution are getting close to tying, or even breaking, the league's record for consecutive losses in the post-shootout era (2000-present).

The record is currently held by Real Salt Lake, who lost ten straight during their inaugural season in 2005. The club did have some early positive results, including a tie against the New York Red Bulls in their debut and a victory over the Colorado Rapids soon after. Starting on August 10^th, however, the team would fail to earn points in ten straight attempts. The slump finally ended with a 2-2 draw against the San Jose Earthquakes on October 10^th. Interestingly enough, the Revs handed RSL their first loss of the streak.

Toronto FC came close to RSL's record in 2012, a futile year that caused striker Danny Koevermans to claim that his team was "setting a record as the worst team in the world." The claim came after a 3-1 loss to D.C. United on May 19^th, which officially put Toronto's record at 0-9-0, the worst start for a club in MLS history. The losing streak wouldn't extend further as the Reds captured a 1-0 victory over the Philadelphia Union a week later.

With two games this week, the Revolution could tie RSL's record for haplessness. The Revs will welcome the Rapids to Gillette Stadium on Wednesday before heading down to Red Bull Arena on Saturday.

The Rapids, who are currently third in the Western Conference standings, are coming off a 3-0 victory over Chivas USA. The Revs should be encouraged by the fact that the Rapids are 2-4-3 while on the road this year and are winless in their last six games away from Dick's Sporting Goods Park.

The Red Bulls have been inconsistent this year with an overall record of 5-9-6. The club currently sits in fifth place in the Eastern Conference standings, just one point above the Revolution. The Revs have never recorded a win at Red Bull Arena as they are 0-4-1 since the facility opened in 2010. The lone tie came during the Revolution's undefeated run at the end of last year.

If the Revs drop both games this week, they will enter the All-Star break with the same number of successive losses that RSL had in 2005. This would obviously be a blemish for the Revs, a team that posted a seven-game unbeaten run earlier this season.

As noted in the introduction, ten straight losses is the MLS record in the post-shootout era. The Red Bulls are owners of the all-time longest MLS losing streak with 12 games in 1999. The Revs had nine-game losing streaks in 1997 and 1998.