New York Red Bulls vs. Columbus Crew SC | 2018 MLS Match Preview

Dylan Butler

New York Red Bulls vs. Columbus Crew SC
2018 MLS Regular Season — Week 22
Red Bull Arena — Harrison
July 28 - 7 pm ET
WATCH: TVAS, ESPN+

Winners of six of their last seven games, including a 1-0 victory in the first Atlantic Cup showdown at Audi Field, the New York Red Bulls look to go seven straight games without defeat at Red Bull Arena when they take on Columbus Crew SC Saturday night.

Crew SC come to Red Bull Arena off a dramatic come-from-behind win over Orlando City SC, but they are 0-4-1 away from home and haven’t scored a goal in their last five road games.

New York Red Bulls

The Red Bulls (13-5-2) handed D.C. United their last loss at RFK Stadium and their first defeat at Audi Field on Wednesday, winning 1-0, a victory that moved them up to second in the Eastern Conference standings.

Bradley Wright-Phillips scored the game’s lone goal in the 2nd minute, curling a shot toward the near post that caromed off a diving David Ousted. He celebrated by ripping off his red jersey to reveal a white kit with the No. 100 on the back to commemorate his 100th league goal — he’s the fastest in MLS history to do so.

“It was an idea that was brought to me and I liked it,” BWP said. “I wanted to show the traveling fans the jersey underneath. It was kind of warm under there honestly. I got my chance and it was great. As soon as I got it, I was relieved.”

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: D - Tim Parker
International duty: None
Injury Report: OUT: M - Florian Valot (torn left ACL), D - Kyle Duncan (torn right ACL), M - Vincent Bezecourt (MCL sprain)

Projected Starting XI
(4-2-3-1, right to left)
GK: Luis Robles — Kemar Lawrence, Aaron Long, Tim Parker, Michael Murillo — Marc Rzatkowski, Sean Davis — Tyler Adams, Kaku, Danny Royer — Bradley Wright-Phillips

Columbus Crew SC

Columbus (9-7-6) were two minutes from a third consecutive defeat, and fifth in their last two games, before dramatically rallying to beat Orlando City SC, 3-2, last Saturday night.

After falling behind on a 16th-minute goal by Sacha Kljestan, Gyasi Zardes leveled for Crew SC in the 51st minute. Orlando regained the lead seven minutes later and it appeared that advantage would hold up until Zardes bagged his brace from the penalty spot on a controversial decision by referee Silviu Petrescu. Wil Trapp then lashed the winner from distance in stoppage time.

“Obviously an exciting win, creates some momentum,” coach Gregg Berhalter said. “I think home games are important to get wins, to get it in a dramatic fashion like that in the last minute of the game is exciting. We’re proud of the guys for their resiliency and hanging in the game and really pushing to get a win.”

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: None
International duty: None
Injury Report: QUESTIONABLE: M - Federico Higuain (Back)

Projected Starting XI
(4-2-3-1, right to left)
GK: Zack Steffen — Harrison Afful, Jonathan Mensah, Josh Williams, Milton Valenzuela — Artur, Wil Trapp — Niko Hansen, Federico Higuain, Pedro Santos — Gyasi Zardes

All-Time Series

Overall: New York Red Bulls 30 wins, 98 goals … Columbus Crew SC 27 wins, 84 goals … 11 draws
At New York: Red Bulls 18 wins, 52 goals … Crew SC 10 wins, 36 goals … 5 draws
Last meeting at New York: New York Red Bulls 2, Columbus Crew SC 0 (April 22, 2017)