The New York Red Bulls are aiming to finish out a perfect July, but Eastern Conference foes Montreal Impact stand in their way on Saturday night at Red Bull Arena.
The Red Bulls are have won all three MLS matches in July, in addition to an Open Cup win. They’ve outscored opponents 12-3, across all competitions, in the month.
“We have to come out with the right mentality, I think the mentality of the team has been great for the past 6-8 weeks and we have piled on some good results, which have been good for the team to move us forward this season,” Sacha Kljestan said following training earlier this week. “Coming up against a team who is not in the playoff picture right now - but who is battling to get in - and a team that is very experienced, very savvy we know we are in for a very good game.”
The Red Bulls are 7-0-0 against Montreal at Red Bull Arena during the regular season, but dropped out of the playoffs in 2016 with a loss to the Impact at home.
“They always present problems for us because they like to defend deep and counter,” Head Coach Jesse Marsch said. “So, historically, that has been a challenge for us here and now they have added more in their attacking core of players, which are quite good. We have to do a good job of understanding what their qualities are, understand how they play and find ways to limit them from getting out in open spaces to threaten us.”
Marsch and Kljestan both said the Red Bulls will need to maintain focus through the full 90 minutes and not let a quick lapse determine the outcome of the game.
“That’s the key, is to not lose concentration and for 90 minutes we have focus and understand what they are trying to achieve in the game, not just what we are trying to achieve in the game, but what they are trying to achieve and if we can control that then we can control the result,” Marsch said.
