Red Line Report: Can Bradley Wright-Phillips lead Red Bulls to trophies?

Bradley Wright-Phillips is having the greatest three-year stretch for a striker in MLS history.

The New York Red Bull has scored 61 goals over the past three seasons, tying a record set by Chris Wondolowski when he scored 61 goals from 2010-12. There's little doubt that Wright-Phillips will break that record at some point over the next six games.

He has scored very consistently since 2014 by being a menace in the box. You can see that in this graphic provided by OptaPro, which includes expected goal figures; the darker the color, the less likely he was to score. Amazingly, only one of his 61 goals has come from outside the box.

While he's not at his outrageous 2014 levels, when he scored 27 goals in the regular season and four more in the playoffs, he has been outperforming his expected goals number. This means he's scoring more goals than he would be expected to based on the shots he has taken.

Wright-Phillips currently sits 30th all-time in MLS regular season goals with 62 and has shown few signs of slowing down despite turning 31 in March. If he is able to sustain this kind of pace, or even see just a slight drop-off, he could easily become the 10th member of the 100-goal club.

In more pressing news, the Englishman is currently on a tear, scoring five goals in four games. With the Red Bulls chasing a top-two seed in the East, these kinds of performances could lead him to one of those spots and potentially their first MLS Cup.

If the regular season ended today ...

Eastern Conference Playoff Bracket

Conference Semifinals

1. New York City FC

Conference Semifinals

2. New York Red Bulls

Knockout Round

3. Toronto FC

VS.

6. Orlando City SC

Knockout Round

4. Philadelphia Union

VS.

5. Montreal Impact

Western Conference Playoff Bracket

Conference Semifinals

1. FC Dallas

Conference Semifinals

2. Real Salt Lake

Knockout Round

3. LA Galaxy

VS.

6. Portland Timbers

Knockout Round

4. Colorado Rapids

VS.

5. Sporting Kansas City

Strength of Schedule and Expected Points

The strength of schedule metric takes into account the average points per game (PPG) that each team's opponents earn at home and on the road. The lower the PPG, the easier the schedule.

For example, if FC Dallas traveled to play the LA Galaxy, who have averaged 2.5 PPG at home, and then hosted the Vancouver Whitecaps, who have averaged 1.53 PPG on the road, their opponents' PPG would be 2.02. The higher the PPG, the more difficult a team's remaining schedule.

The Expected Points metric is strictly based off of what teams have done up to this point. For example, New York City FC have collected 1.64 points per game at home this season and 1.50 on the road. So if they continue averaging those totals, with five more home games left and four more road games, they would be expected to collect 53.43 points.

Here are both the Strength of Schedule and Expected Points rankings for each conference: