The New England Revolution have a sizable disparity in their goal differential ratio with no signs of narrowing the gap.

The Revolution are last with nine goals scored in 12 MLS games for an anemic 0.75 per game average. The Revolution have allowed 25 goals for a 2.08 per game average, fourth from the bottom in MLS for a team that has played fewer games than just one other squad in the league.

“Good teams have a good plus-minus and goal differential, and we don’t have that right now,” said head coach Caleb Porter. “So, we need to start to get clean sheets and we need to start to score two goals or more in every game. We’ll take one goal and a clean sheet as well.

“But every game, I write on the board different things. I write a couple simple things almost every game, and it’s ‘a clean sheet’ and ‘two goals or more.’ We need to have a mindset where we’re scoring two goals or more in every game, and our goal every game is to get a clean sheet.”

The Revolution (2-9-1) will look to close their goal differential chasm against a formidable Eastern Conference opponent when they host third-place New York City FC (7-5-2) on Saturday night (7:30) at Gillette Stadium.

The Revolution will engage NYCFC in the second of four home games in five weeks, a make or break stretch of the season. The Revolution are 1-4-1 at home, a disappointing record for a team that prides itself on “protecting the fort.”

“We’ve had good crowds recently, so we need to repay their faith and the fans coming and cheering us on with results,” said Porter. “Often times, it takes just going on a run, getting a couple wins, and now you get that feeling back.

“We do want to do that. We want to, for the rest of the year, build a fortress at home. It’s important that if we’re going to have a chance at this thing, to get into the playoffs, we need to start winning home games.”

NYFC enjoys a slightly advantageous ratio in goal differential, but it’s been good enough to garner 23 points. The Gothams have scored 18 goals in 14 games for a 1.29 average while allowing 16 for a 1.15 average. NYCFC displayed that delicate balance by winning its last three games with seven goals scored and four allowed.

“They’re a very talented team, one of the more talented teams in the league, and they’ve spent a lot of money on this roster,” said Porter. “People forget that. They’ve spent a ton of money on transfer fees and they have as talented a team as any team in the league.

“They’re young, but they’re on a great run right now. They have a ton of confidence. They are a true positional play team. They want to keep the ball. They want to dictate the game with the ball. They want to create goals through positional attacks.

“They want to press high, and their tails are up right now. They are feeling good. We’re going to have to play well to get good results. It’s another game where we have to play well and not make mistakes.”

The Revolution have allowed four goals in a game three times and twice in the last four that included setbacks to Inter Miami (4-1) and New York Red Bulls (4-2). In the last four games, the Revolution have been outscored 11-3, but they get a pass on last Saturday’s 3-0 home loss to the Philadelphia Union.

Revolution left back Ryan Spaulding picked up a red card in the 14th minute, putting New England shorthanded for 76 minutes of regulation plus 13 minutes of stoppage time.

The Revolution were also without their best finisher, attacking forward Tomas Chancalay, who was suspended from the match for yellow card accumulation.

“When you look back on a lot of games this year, we’ve had two reds, four penalties we’ve given up, no penalties for us this year, no red cards for us,” said Porter. “You can call that luck, but I believe you make your own luck.

“We’ve made some big mistakes this year in games. Often times in this league, it’s the team that doesn’t make the mistakes that wins. We need to be patient, steady, and strong, even if that goal doesn’t come in the first 20 minutes or even the first half. That’s why I thought, and I still think, we’re on the right track.”