Atlanta United FC and the New York Red Bulls will look to strengthen their standings in the playoff hunt when the two sides meet on Wednesday night in Harrison, N.J.
Atlanta (12-9-11, 47 points) is sixth in the Eastern Conference standings and holds a slim lead over seventh-place New York (13-12-7, 46 points) in pursuit of the final two spots in the Eastern Conference.
Each team is marketing the meeting as a “win and in” match, as a victory for either side would clinch a playoff berth.
“It’s one more time that we bring our focus on our style of play and what we want on Wednesday,” Red Bulls coach Gerhard Struber said. “Yes, of course, everyone knows if we win, then I think everything is done with the playoffs.”
The Red Bulls are coming off a 1-0 victory against CF Montreal last Saturday. Fabio sealed the win for New York with his sixth goal of the season in the first minute of second-half stoppage time.
New York went 5-1-0 in October and has just one loss — a 1-0 setback at D.C. United on Oct. 27 — in its last 10 league matches (7-1-2) dating back to Sept. 17.
Atlanta is coming off a 1-1 draw with Toronto FC last Saturday and is unbeaten over its prior four matches (2-0-2). Luiz Araujo scored in the 15th minute for the Five Stripes to extend his point streak to five games.
“For me, this is a testament of what they are going to do at the end of the season,” Atlanta coach Gonzalo Pineda said. “Coming back three months ago, no one was saying a good thing about any of them. Now they are back and in a good position.”
New York is undefeated in the all-time regular-season series with Atlanta at 6-0-3. The Five Stripes are winless in three previous matches (0-2-1) against the Red Bulls in Harrison.
–Field Level Media
