The host New York Red Bulls and Sporting Kansas City meet on Saturday as part of a light evening of league action due to the FIFA international break.
New York’s place in the standings belies the club’s current form. Despite sitting fourth in the Eastern Conference, the Red Bulls (10-5-12, 42 points) have won just twice in their past 11 league matches (2-2-7). They most recently fell 2-0 to the Philadelphia Union on Aug. 31 in Harrison, N.J., for their first home loss of the season (7-1-5).
With just seven matches remaining in the regular season, the Red Bulls understand they need to get back on the winning side to maximize their playoff positioning.
“Last game was not good for us, and the result was not good,” coach Sandro Schwarz said. “The whole performance, especially in defense … was not good. And now it’s good that we are playing (on Saturday). (It’s) important for us to give another face of our quality, another face of our behavior, of our mentality, of our energy level, everything.”
New York will look to beat SKC without leading scorer Lewis Morgan (Scotland) and starting goalkeeper Carlos Coronel (Paraguay), who are among the Red Bulls players on international duty.
Kansas City (7-14-6, 27 points) defeated Orlando City SC 3-0 in its last match on Aug. 24 but still faces a tough task to clinch a postseason berth. The club is nine points out of the ninth and final playoff spot with seven matches to go. Should they fail to qualify, it will mark the second time in three seasons they’ve missed the playoffs.
Kansas City has yet to see August signing Joaquin Fernandez suit up for the club, with the Spanish defender nursing a minor injury, per head coach Peter Vermes.
“I just know over the last couple of years, if you don’t give somebody a preseason, it’s just a matter of time when they get injured. I want to try to avoid that,” Vermes said, according to the Kansas City Star.
Top scorer Willy Agada (nine goals in 26 games) will be back in the SKC lineup after serving a red-card suspension against Orlando.
–Field Level Media
