The New York Red Bulls will visit Atlanta United on Saturday, aiming to sweep their two-match road trip.
New York (11-7-14, 47 points) is coming off a 4-1 midweek victory at Toronto FC in response to a 5-1 loss at home to New York City FC last weekend. The Red Bulls have earned points in three of their past five matches (1-2-2) and currently hold the sixth playoff seed in the Eastern Conference, having already clinched a playoff spot.
“I think it was a massive performance for us as a team,” midfielder Lewis Morgan said of Wednesday’s win. “We needed that. I’m not going to say it was perfect, but I think after we had a tough loss, it was just important to put a strong performance on for 90 minutes and try to get a win, and we did that in a difficult place.
“Toronto had to win, and we knew that, so there are things we can definitely improve, but it was a big step forward.”
Saturday is the 16th regular-season meeting between the Red Bulls and Atlanta. New York is 9-1-5 against its Eastern Conference rival, including a 5-1-2 record in Atlanta.
Morgan, who recorded his 13th goal of the season in Toronto, has seven career goal contributions in 10 matches against Atlanta.
Emil Forsberg returned to the lineup in the win over Toronto and recorded a goal and an assist. Forsberg, the Red Bulls’ captain, now has 11 goal contributions (seven goals, four assists) in 17 matches.
Atlanta (8-14-10, 34 points) enters Saturday’s match following a 2-1 loss to CF Montreal on Wednesday. With two matches remaining, Atlanta is 12th in the Eastern Conference, three points below the playoff line.
“I think (Wednesday) kind of sums up the whole season, really,” Atlanta defender Derrick Williams said following the Montreal match. “Missing a lot of chances, missing goals. Like I said before, goals change games. It just hurts.”
Atlanta United have three points in its last four matches (0-1-3), including a 2-2 draw on the road against the Red Bulls on Sept. 21, but they’re winless in their past five home matches across all competitions.
Midfielder Saba Lobjanidze leads Atlanta with eight goals and seven assists in 28 matches this season, while Daniel Rios has 10 goal contributions (seven goals, three assists) in 22 matches.
Saturday is the second and final MLS meeting between Atlanta and New York this season.
–Field Level Media
