The New York Red Bulls take on Sporting Kansas City at Red Bull Arena on Saturday, April 9, at 7 p.m. ET (TV: MSG 2, RADIO: Red Bulls Radio English/Spanish on TuneIn). The Red Bulls look to capture their second win of the season after dropping last weekend’s game in controversial fashion against the New England Revolution. This is the first and only matchup of the season between the two teams.
Saturday is Autism Awareness Night at Red Bull Arena! Help the New York Bulls Light It Up Blue by purchasing tickets using promotional code AUTISM2016 on NewYorkRedBulls.com/AutismAwareness. By using the promo code, a portion of the tickets sale will be donated to Autism Speaks.
New York Red Bulls
- Record: 1-3-0
- Goals Leader: Felipe (2)
- Assists Leader: Sacha Kljestan (1)
- Saves Leader: Luis Robles (14)
Sporting Kansas City
- Record: 3-1-0
- Goals Leader: Dom Dwyer (2)
- Assists Leader: Four tied (1)
- Saves Leader: Tim Melia (15)
Scouting Report
The Red Bulls have their work cut out for them on Saturday night after suffering yet another loss in the back line. Kemar Lawrence went down with an injury in the second half of last Friday’s game against the Revolution and is listed as doubtful for Sporting Kansas City. New York will look to its young defenders to step up against Kansas City after Connor Lade, Karl Ouimette and Chris Duvall came together and finished the match strong against New England.
Bradley Wright-Phillips will be on the hunt for the back of the net on Saturday night. Wright-Phillips fired six shots last Friday against the Revolution, three of which were on goal. After coming frustratingly close to scoring in his first four games, look for Wright-Phillips to jumpstart his goal-scoring campaign against Kansas City.
The Red Bulls’ midfield will need to continue to apply pressure and create chances in the absence of team-leading goal scorer, Felipe. The Brazilian will be serving a one-game suspension after receiving a controversial red card against the Revolution. Watch out for 2015 and current assists leader Sacha Kljestan to create chances in the midfield while captain Dax McCarty drives the team’s energy with his field-covering style of play.
Sporting Kansas City’s season opening win streak came to a halt in last week’s loss at home to Real Salt Lake. Their 2-1 loss ended a three-game winning streak in which Sporting conceded just one goal in three games, with zero goals conceded from the run of play.
Last season’s MLS MVP contender, midfielder Benny Feilhaber, will be a player to watch for Sporting. Feilhaber made his season debut in last week’s game against Real Salt Lake, providing their only goal on a penalty kick in stoppage time. In 2015, the midfielder tallied 10 goals and 15 assists, proving to be Sporting’s offensive sparkplug. The Red Bulls’ new defense will be tested against Feilhaber’s playmaking ability.
Kansas City forward Dom Dwyer’s nose for the goal will be a worthy threat to the Red Bulls’ defense. Dwyer was the team’s 2015 leading goal scorer and currently leads Sporting KC in both assists and goals heading into Saturday night.
Finally, watch the matchup between Sporting goalkeeper Tim Melia versus Bradley Wright-Phillips. Melia has recorded two shutouts in his first four games while Wright-Phillips will do everything in his power to find the back of the net.
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