The New York Red Bulls play away from Red Bull Arena has been trending back in the right direction as of late.
After starting the season 1-6 on the road, the Red Bulls have gone 3-2-1 (10 pts.) over their last six MLS away days.
“I think in general our team feels good playing on the road now, we have gotten results recently and our team is in a good way because of that," Head Coach Jesse Marsch said following training on Thursday. "We know we are in for a really tough match, there is a lot of question marks as to who will be available for them so it does not make it the easiest to prepare for them and also more than anything you know this is a team that is very good at home, possesses the ball very good at home and has a plus-23 goal differential at home."
While New York had a -11 goal differential on the road through their first seven games, they have a +3 goal differential over their last six road matches. The Red Bulls have a +5 goal differential on the season, home and away.
"It is going to be a difficult game, they have not been very good in the past month or so," Captain Sacha Kljestan said on Thursday. "I would not call them a desperate team, but probably desperate to get back to their form that had them at the top of the table a month ago."
Chicago is 2-6-1 over their last nine games, including both of their home losses, dropping games at Toyota Park to Toronto and to Minnesota.
Despite the recent trends, though, the Red Bulls know what lies ahead is not an easy task.
"[They're] a very strong team that have guys that have scored a lot, like [David] Accam and [Nemanja] Nikolic, great midfield experienced players and savvy guys on their team to make it a difficult game," Kljestan said.
"We know we are in for a big, big challenge," Marsch said.
