Sandro Schwarz is keen to turn New York Red Bulls’ recent draws into wins heading into the business end of the season, starting with Philadelphia Union this weekend.
The Bulls returned from their disappointing Leagues Cup campaign with a 1-1 draw against Charlotte FC away from home, marking their 12th of the term, three more than any other side in the Eastern Conference.
Despite this, they sit fourth in the standings, four points behind Columbus Crew, and while Schwarz was happy with a draw in their last encounter, he acknowledged the momentum that comes with victories will be crucial for the playoffs.
“We have 12 draws this season and it’s too much, but this is what we have to analyse differently moving forward,” Schwarz said.
“I think the draw we had last time out was good against a solid team and especially in the first game after the break to come directly back into our rhythm.
“The whole team adapted but I don’t want to compare now this draw with other draws, especially in our home games. Our main goal every Saturday is to win games.”
Philadelphia, meanwhile, returned to MLS action in midweek against Columbus Crew, the side who beat them in the semi-finals on their way to lifting the Leagues Cup title.
And the same result transpired, with Yaw Yeboah’s 75th minute strike compounding them to a 1-0 defeat to leave them 10th in the Eastern Conference table and a point behind Atlanta United.
With the quick turnaround in matches, head coach Jim Curtin expressed his concerns about the level of fitness within his Union squad, revealing that rotation in the coming weeks will help aid his sides push for the playoffs in the final stretch of fixtures.
"We'll see how guys recover again tonight. Definitely took a lot out of our guys,” Curtin said. “We put a lot into the game. So did Columbus.
“Lot of tired bodies on the field at the end of the game. We'll have to assess things, see where guys are at, and then kind of go from there.
"Yeah, we'll need guys to step up for sure. We'll have a few changes, but not a ton, just because it's a big game again so we can't really afford to just rest and rotate a ton."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
NYRB – Elias Manoel
Elias Manoel scored the Red Bulls’ lone goal against Charlotte FC on Saturday, his seventh in six meetings with Charlotte (incl. playoffs), equalling the total from his other 57 MLS matches (incl. playoffs).
Philadelphia Union – Daniel Gazdag
After being so prolific for the Union this season, Daniel Gazdag did not attempt a shot or create a chance for a teammate in the Union’s defeat to Columbus Crew.
It was the first time Gazdag started a match but was not involved in a shot since May 2022 as he had recorded at least one shot involvement in his previous 69 MLS starts, and he will be hoping to have a bigger impact this time around.
MATCH PREDICTION: NYRB WIN
The Bulls extended their unbeaten run in all competitions to 11 matches (W2 D9, incl. two penalty shoot-out defeats) with their draw against Charlotte FC. Only Los Angeles FC (13 straight in May-July) have a longer unbeaten streak in all competitions this campaign.
Philadelphia, however, are unbeaten in 13 straight matches against the Red Bulls in all competitions (W8 D5). New York’s last win over the Union was a 2—0 victory in the 2019 regular season.
The Union’s defeat to the Crew last time out was their 11th defeat of the regular season. They haven’t lost more than 11 games in any single regular season since losing 14 times in 2018.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
NYRB – 43.9%
Draw – 26.8%
Philadelphia Union – 29.3%