New York Red Bulls vs. Toronto FC | 2018 MLS Match Preview

Dylan Butler

New York Red Bulls vs. Toronto FC
2018 MLS Regular Season — Week 30
Red Bull Arena — Harrison
Sept. 22 — 5 pm ET
WATCH: TSN2, ESPN+

The New York Red Bulls and Toronto FC renew their rivalry as the Eastern Conference foes clash at Red Bull Arena Saturday.

The Red Bulls will need a win to keep pace with Atlanta United in the Supporters’ Shield race, while Toronto FC are desperate for three points just to keep a flicker of hope for a playoff berth alive.

This is the second meeting this season, with the Red Bulls pulling out a 1-0 win at BMO Field on July 1 with Kemar Lawrence scoring the lone goal in the 4th minute.

New York Red Bulls

The New York Red Bulls spent most of the season as the team with the most stout defense. That’s no longer the case statistically after conceding three goals in consecutive games, including a 3-3 draw against D.C. United Sunday at Audi Field.

Three times Bradley Wright-Phillips pulled the Red Bulls (17-7-5) back to level, completing his hat trick in the 90^th minute three minutes after Luciano Acosta scored for United.

“I feel a little bit disappointed,” Wright-Phillips said. “I don’t feel we really looked like ourselves defensively. It is obviously good to score but we were always coming back, it was always we had to score to get back into the game. We are fighting too hard to get these wins the last two games and I don’t really like the feeling of that. We came away with a point but it doesn’t really feel good right now to me.”

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: F - Bradley Wright-Phillips, M - Kaku
International duty: None
Injury Report: OUT: M - Florian Valot (torn left ACL), D - Kyle Duncan (torn right ACL), M - Vincent Bezecourt (right MCL surgery), D - Tommy Redding (shoulder surgery), M - Ben Mines (broken left clavicle surgery)

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

Toronto FC

After an emotional — and wild — 5-3 win over the LA Galaxy, Toronto FC (8-14-6) fell to Tigres UANL in the inaugural Campeones Cup, 3-1, Wednesday night at BMO Field.

Jesus Dueñas struck for a brace, his second goal coming two minutes before an Eriq Zavaleta own goal gave Tigres a commanding 3-0 lead. Lucas Janson pulled the defending MLS Cup champions back a goal four minutes from full time from the penalty spot. As stinging as the home loss was, Sebastian Giovinco withdrawing with calf cramps before halftime was more concerning.

“The guys are frustrated because they wanted to win the game, but at the same time they understand the importance of what’s in front of them,” Toronto FC head coach Greg Vanney said. “We knew coming into this week our priorities, but we decided that if we’re going to play this game that we need to play this game the right way. But we also understood that we have a very important match on Saturday that is probably going to go a long way toward determining what our future is in the league.”

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: M - Michael Bradley, F - Jozy Altidore
International duty: None
Injury Report: OUT: D - Chris Mavinga (hamstring strain); QUESTIONABLE: D - Drew Moor (calf strain), F - Sebastian Giovinco (calf cramps), M - Victor Vazquez (undisclosed injury)

Projected Starting XI
(3-5-2, right to left)
GK: Alex Bono — Eriq Zavaleta, Michael Bradley, Nick Hagglund — Gregory van der Wiel, Marky Delgado, Jonathan Osorio, Victor Vazquez, Justin Morrow — Jozy Altidore, Sebastian Giovinco

All-Time Series

Overall: New York Red Bulls 14 wins, 55 goals … Toronto FC 8 wins, 33 goals … 7 draws
At New York: Red Bulls 10 wins, 35 goals … Toronto FC 2 wins, 10 goals … 2 draws
Last meeting at New York: New York Red Bulls 1, Toronto FC 1 (May 19, 2017)