With six matches left, the New York Red Bulls hope to bolster their chances for home-field advantage in the opening round of the playoffs when they travel to face the struggling Chicago Fire on Saturday.
Chicago (6-14-8, 26 points) searches for its first win since returning from the Leagues Cup break. Last Saturday against D.C. United, the Fire suffered a second straight home loss, a 2-1 defeat where a tough three-minute stretch meant dropped points for the hosts.
In the 26th minute, Christian Benteke scored the first of two D.C. United goals in a span of three minutes. The Fire cut their 2-0 deficit in half on a goal by Andrew Gutman in the 54th minute, but only had one shot in the remaining 36 minutes.
The loss gave the Fire a four-match winless streak (0-3-1), but head coach Frank Klopas has his eyes set on the defensive side to turn the season around.
“I think it starts with clean sheets,” Klopas said. “I think mistakes will be made in games, but our reactions have to improve and get better.”
Important in that success is Arnaud Souquet, who’s started the last 11 matches since losing his starting spot at the beginning of the season. The Frenchman has played at least 45 minutes in five of Chicago’s six wins this season, and his move from fullback to center back has resulted in five clean sheets in 20 appearances.
While the 14th-place Fire are on the outside looking in, New York (10-5-13, 43 points) is trying to hold on to the coveted fourth spot.
New York has struggled to find wins, sitting first in the Eastern Conference with 13 draws, four more than the next team. The defense is strong but the offense has often come up short. The Red Bulls enter Saturday with a four-point lead over fifth-place New York City FC.
Last Saturday at home, New York did find a dose of offense, thanks to late substitution by Julian Hall. After entering the match in the 81st minute, Hall scored the match-tying goal in the 89th minute to force a 1-1 draw with Sporting Kansas City.
“It was very good, very important for us, in these moments, that we scored,” head coach Sandro Schwarz said. “In a very good, very important moment for us, for the whole club.”
In the first matchup of the season, the Red Bulls and Fire ended with a 0-0 draw on April 13 at New York.
–Field Level Media