HARRISON – The New York Red Bulls (8-8-6) return home and are searching for their first win in over a month Wednesday vs the New England Revolution (6-8-7). It will be their second meeting this season following their March tilt which saw New England win on a Carles Gil penalty kick in stoppage time.
To say this is a must win for both New York and New England is an understatement. Both teams have not tasted victory since May 31 when New York beat Atlanta United and New England defeated CF Montreal away. Red Bulls captain Emil Forsberg emphasized the importance of their upcoming match vs the Revolution postmatch on Saturday.
“We need to win that game, simple as that.”
Luckily for the Red Bulls, Sports Illustrated Stadium has been a safe place for them and a place of good results this season. The Red Bulls are 7-1-2 at their home venue this season and they might expect another great result Wednesday. The last three times New York has played the Revolution at home, they have earned a win against their rivals.
Looking back at the Red Bulls’ match from Saturday vs Philadelphia, New York had a poor start which affected them the entire 95 minutes. During his prematch press conference Monday, manager Sandro Schwarz acknowledged what needs to change in order to start games better.
“I think it’s necessary for us to bring all the quality, all the energy level,” Schwarz told reporters. “I think the biggest mistake we can do is only to talk about positive things.”
Schwarz then mentioned the squad had to change a part of their game that was not necessarily from a tactical standpoint. This included how they support each other in duals, the type of runs they need and just defending all together as a unit. The latter was a big emphasis from Schwarz postmatch Saturday and again on Monday.
“It’s not only one player, it’s not only two players or a group of positions, it’s the whole team and I think we have seen this so many times when we are doing that then we have the quality for sure, but when we are doing 5% less then we are struggling in some moments and this is what we did against Philly.”
Looking more at the Revolution, they are coming off a 0-0 draw Saturday when they visited Austin FC for the first time. While they currently sit 11th in the Eastern Conference standings with 25 points, they are a great defending squad. They are top 10 in Major League Soccer in goals allowed with 25 and have an excellent goalkeeper in net with Aljaž Ivačič.
But the main attraction for this New England side is their captain Carles Gil. The midfielder has long been considered a top passer in the league and has been orchestrating another great season. Gil leads the team in goals with eight and also in assists with seven.
Gil’s tremendous form this season has also allowed him to partake in next Wednesday’s All-Star Game, which he was added to on Tuesday. No Red Bulls players were selected or added to the MLS All-Star roster.
For the Red Bulls, it’s clear that they need to have a standout performance in front of their home crowd on Wednesday. It’s also an opportunity to get back at New England in a performance Forsberg believed wasn’t great the first time around.
“I had the feeling we were a little bit sloppy in everything we did,” Forsberg mentioned back on March 29th.
Kickoff for Wednesday’s match is set for 7:30 p.m. on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+.
