You say you want a Revolution?

The Chicago Fire finally decided to take care of business last week, dropping the Columbus Crew 2-1 in Naperville and punching their fifth consecutive playoff berth in the process. Now the Men in Red square off against a resurgent New England Revolution, starting tonight at Gilette Stadium in Foxboro. This should be an interesting matchup for a number of reasons. The Fire's season was largely characterized by scratching by in the face of adversity, with the Revs mostly falling down in spite of good fortune, mostly due to Major League Soccer's rummage sale during the offseason. Yet the two teams ended their seasons how some might have expected all along given their rosters. The Fire struggled late as injuries finally caught up with them, and the Revolution finally seemed to gel as a unit anchored by some very talented players.

Stylistically and tactically, this series should be won or lost in the middle of the pitch. Aside from league-leading assist man Steve Ralston, the Revolution aren't known for their midfield, and have already expressed a preference for playing the ball long, up the wings, or both. Meanwhile, the Fire's traditional game is more about central possession. Say whatever you want about New England scoring sensation Taylor Twellman, but matters should be decided before the ball even gets to him. While the Revs' midfielders aren't going to play possession, they still have the bodies to disrupt the Fire's flow, and will try to turn that up the field quickly, either through Ralston or over the top to Twellman and forward Wolde Harris. Fortunately for the Fire, Orlando Perez has played some of his best games against Ralston on the left side of the Fire's defense this year, and this may very well be the key matchup in this whole series.

The size of Chicago's backline should also be a factor, as they will try like hell to deny any service into the penalty area for Harris or Twellman. Coach Bob Bradley will have to decide whether he wants to go with Jim Curtin's sheer reach and physical presence in the middle, or Carlos Bocanegra's speed and, well, physical presence. It's not out of the question that both will start in the center of a four-man line, but we've also seen the Fire push Orlando Perez into more of midfield role in the past, which may help neutralize Ralston before he gets too deep in Fire territory.

The main question offensively for the Fire, and defensively for New England, is whether or not anyone in the Revolution midfield can stop Peter Nowak. If not, having to deal with him from that backline should free up noted Rev-killer (and occasional Rev-hair-puller) Ante Razov. The Fire's leading scorer has done serious damage this season with five goals against in four matches, including a hat trick way back when it was merely CMGI Field. If Nowak can't penetrate, central defenders Carlos Llamosa and Daouda Kante will be all over Razov, and for the Fire to perform well, it will then be up to DaMarcus Beasley and Dema Kovalenko running off of Razov as a target forward to get the results. All things considered, that duo have hit nearly every square inch around the goal as of late, so you almost have to figure they're both due.

Both sides' strengths look to overtake the others' weaknesses, so it's a matter of who is stronger in the long haul. New England will almost certainly get Twellman or Harris free in the box enough to do some damage, and Chicago will likewise be able to attack successfully up the middle through Nowak. The Fire have the experience and the resolve, the Revolution the warm bodies and the momentum. Should make for an entertaining series. All I feel confident predicting is that it will go three games.