MLS Regular Season | Match #21
New England Revolution at New York Red Bulls
Wednesday, October 28 | 7 p.m. ET
Red Bull Arena | Harrison, N.J.
Watch: NBC Sports Boston
Listen: 98.5 The Sports Hub (English), 1260 AM Nossa Radio USA (Portuguese)
Revolution Pregame Live presented by Dan O’Brien Automotive Group (6:15 p.m. ET)
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CURRENT FORM
New England Revolution
6th in Eastern Conference (7-5-8, 29 pts.)
Last Result | 1-1 draw at Nashville SC
Second-half substitute Adam Buksa scored his fifth goal of the season to help the Revs claim an important point last Friday night at Nissan Stadium, securing a come-from-behind 1-1 draw with Nashville SC. The result extended the Revs’ unbeaten run away from home to four games (3-0-1), and pushed them to 5-1-1 in their last seven games on the road.
New England can secure their spot in the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs on Wednesday night with a win or draw at Red Bull Arena, while they’d also lock up a postseason place with an Inter Miami CF loss or draw against FC Dallas later on Wednesday night regardless of their own result.
New York Red Bulls
7th in Eastern Conference (7-8-5, 26 pts.)
Last Result | 2-2 draw at Chicago Fire FC
Brian White’s 91st-minute equalizer earned the Red Bulls a 2-2 draw with Chicago Fire FC this past weekend, marking the second straight game that White scored in stoppage time to rescue a point for RBNY. New York have now drawn three straight games as part of a modest four-game unbeaten run (1-0-3).
Trailing the Revs by just three points in the Eastern Conference standings, the Red Bulls would climb above the Revs (by virtue of the wins tiebreaker) and into sixth place in the East with a victory on Wednesday, making this a vital matchup in the postseason race.
KEY PLAYERS
Revolution forward Adam Buksa
With two goals and one assist in his last three appearances, forward Adam Buksa appears to be heating up at the perfect time, with just three games left in the regular season and the playoffs on the horizon. The 24-year-old DP has been a contributor whether starting or coming off the bench, as three of his five goals have come as a starter, while the other two were scored as a substitute.
Buksa has made his goals count, as well – three of his goals were scored in 1-1 draws, while another was the game-winner in a 3-2 win over the Montreal Impact at Red Bull Arena two weeks ago.
New York Red Bulls forward Brian White
The Red Bulls have relied upon a balanced attack this year with eight different players scoring multiple goals – and 12 players total finding the back of the net – but the one who has stepped up recently is Brian White.
White has scored all three of his goals this season since late September and while four of his last five appearances have been off the bench, he’s done damage as a substitute. Within a span of six days he came off the bench to score stoppage-time equalizers against both Orlando City SC and Chicago Fire FC in RBNY’s last two games.
STATUS REPORT
Revolution
Carles Gil made an earlier-than-anticipated return last Friday night at Nissan Stadium, playing 27 minutes off the bench to mark his first game since undergoing surgery to debride his left Achilles tendon in early August. Head coach Bruce Arena said the Revs will continue to bring Gil along gradually as they approach the playoffs.
Gustavo Bou, meanwhile, has missed four of the last five games with a hamstring injury and Arena said the Argentine forward’s status for Wednesday night’s trip to RBA “remains to be seen,” but either way Bou is expected “to be ready in the very near future.”
New York Red Bulls
The Red Bulls are approaching the end of the regular season with a largely healthy roster as only Patrick Seagrist is listed as unavailable, his only appearance since March coming in RBNY’s 1-1 draw with the Revs back on August 29 at Gillette Stadium.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
New England Revolution head coach Bruce Arena
“It’ll certainly be a difficult game as all the games in the league are. Red Bull have had a good run as of late, have been carrying a great mentality, and are getting goals at the end of games. It seems like a loss was apparent [in New York’s draw vs. Chicago on Saturday], so give them a lot of credit – they never quit. I think they’ll probably return their number 10 [Kaku] to this game, who will certainly help their team. They’ve gotten good solid play out of their back line and have been very opportunistic going forward.”
New England Revolution forward Teal Bunbury
“For us, our goal is always to try to finish in the top four. I think that might be a little difficult now. That’s still something we’re going to attempt to do. Anything’s possible these last few games. But we definitely want to finish in the top six and not have to play that play-in game which possibly would be a mid-week game. Then if you advance out of that, you’re playing again a few days later. It’s been a hectic schedule so far, so the more rest and recuperation we can get and I think that happens if you finish top six. Our goal right now is finishing the season strong so we’re in the best position to have home field advantage and to not have to play that play-in game.”
