HARRISON – Red Bull New York (1-0-0, 3 pts) are ready for their home opener against their original 96 rivals in the New England Revolution (0-1-0, 0 pts) on Saturday.
After conquering Orlando City SC in their first match of the 2026 campaign, New York became one of the best stories from opening weekend. Head coach Michael Bradley was praised by many analysts, and outlets and fans were excited by what unfolded on the pitch last Saturday.
Now though, it’s back to business for Red Bull as they look to ride that momentum into their home opener against a New England squad looking to rebound.
To open the 2026 Major League Soccer (MLS) season, the Revolution were down in the “Music City” facing Nashville SC. To no surprise, New England was no match for a Nashville attack that featured the likes of Sam Surridge and Hany Mukhtar. Even with USMNT goalkeeper Matt Turner in net, “The Revs” allowed four goals and started the new season on the wrong foot.
Make no mistake, however, New England has talent and Bradley noted that in Thursday’s pre-match press conference.
“I would imagine that there is some disappointment for [New England] in terms of their result in the first match against Nashville,” Bradley told the media. “But it’s still a good team with a lot of very good players and Marko Mitrović has proven himself to be a very good coach.”
Operating New England on the pitch is of course the talented midfielder, Carles Gil, who is the heart and soul of their roster. His majestic passing and soccer IQ rivals that of another midfielder he’ll face on Saturday in Emil Forsberg.
Perhaps Gil’s excellent passing ability also rivals a certain passer in another sport that plays at Gillette Stadium.
While Bradley did not say whether Gil was like New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, he did analyze the Revolution’s captain’s strengths with the media. Bradley mentioned Gil’s ability to float around and find spaces, as well as his ability to dictate the game.
Tasked with stopping Gil, Red Bull defender Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty gave the press his thoughts on the upcoming match as well.
“I think we’re kind of just focus on ourselves… we control what we can control and that’s how we train this week and how we prepare for the game,” Marshall-Rutty told the media Thursday. “I think it’s less on their reactions or them and it’s more on how we prepare and what we kind of want to do and how we want to put them in uncomfortable situations like we know we’re capable of.”
Thursday’s pre-match press conference also allowed for Bradley to speak on new signing Joyeux Masanka Bungi. The 19-year-old defender comes on loan from German side RB Leipzig.
“The people in Leipzig and at Red Bull Global speak very very highly of him and so we are really looking forward to adding him to our group and to seeing if we can take the really good starting points and help develop him even more,” Bradley said.
With expected temperatures at kickoff set close to 50 degrees, the fan turnout should be considerably high, especially after a great victory last Saturday.
Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. on Apple TV.
