New York Red Bulls vs. Montreal Impact | 2018 MLS Match Preview

Dylan Butler

New York Red Bulls vs. Montreal Impact
2018 MLS Regular Season – Week 7
Red Bull Arena - Harrison
1 pm ET – April 14, 2018
WATCH: TVAS, ESPN+

The focus for the New York Red Bulls now shifts solely to league play after the club’s Concacaf Champions League run ended with a semifinal loss to Chivas de Guadalajara following a frustrating 0-0 draw Tuesday night at Red Bull Arena.

Meanwhile, the Montreal Impact, one of now three MLS clubs to reach the CCL final after Toronto FC booked its spot Tuesday night, are also looking to pick themselves up after a 4-0 loss at New England that came on the heels of back-to-back wins.

New York Red Bulls

Through the first five weeks of the MLS season, Red Bulls coach Jesse Marsch has rotated his roster for league games with the club’s focus on midweek success in the CCL. The result is a largely acceptable 2-2-0 start for a team that has yet to play its preferred XI against league opposition.

How many of those regulars line up against the Impact Saturday afternoon in Harrison remains a question following a crushing scoreless draw and 1-0 loss on aggregate to Chivas. However, Marsch said his team’s CCL ouster, as painful as it was Tuesday night, cannot be used as a crutch.

“The key for us is to take a day to decompress a little bit. We've got to kind of get ourselves into mode for the season and Saturday can't be a game where we feel sorry for ourselves and come out and play flat,” Marsch said. “We’ve got to now take this confidence and momentum and take it into the season and make sure that we really launch ourselves in a good way here for the next couple months.”

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: None
International duty: None
Injury Report: OUT: D - Kyle Duncan (torn right ACL), D - Connor Lade (ankle sprain)

Projected Starting XI
(4-2–3-1, right to left)
GK: Luis Robles — Michael Murillo, Aaron Long, Tim Parker, Kemar Lawrence — Mark Rzatkowski, Tyler Adams — Kaku, Sean Davis, Alex Muyl — Bradley Wright-Phillips

Notes: Marc Rzatkowski created four chances in his last appearance for the Red Bulls, the most he has had in a single game since joining the Red Bulls prior to the season. … New York is unbeaten in their last 10 MLS matches at Red Bull Arena (6W-4D), keeping six clean sheets and allowing multiple goals just once.

Montreal Impact

Things started badly last week for the Montreal Impact (2-3-0) when Saphir Taider was sent off with a straight red card for a dangerous tackle on Luis Caicedo just 14 minutes after kickoff. It snowballed from there, as the Impact suffered a 4-0 loss to the Revs at Gillette Stadium last Friday night.

“It hurts to play with 10 men as of the quarter-hour mark,” Impact midfielder Samuel Piette said after the match. “At the end, whether it’s 1-0 or 4-0, we didn’t get the three points, it’s a loss. We’re not going to brood. It’s a marathon, not a sprint, because the season is long. We won’t give up because of this loss.”

That said, the loss of Taider, the Algerian international who signed in the offseason, was impactful for the remainder of that match and likely Saturday against the Red Bulls.

“Saphir is a player that works really hard, both offensively and defensively,” Piette said. “He’s the one that touches the ball the most in our team usually. He covers a huge area of the pitch, something we missed during the game against New England.”

Suspended: M - Saphir Taider
Suspended after next caution: None
International duty: None
Injury Report: OUT: D - Zakaria Diallo (ruptured Achilles tendon), D - Kyle Fisher (tibia), M - Marco Donadel (gluteal muscle), F - Matteo Mancosu (calf), David Choinere (ankle surgery); QUESTIONABLE: M - Ignacio Piatti (undisclosed)

Projected Starting XI
(5-3-2, right to left)
GK: Evan Bush — Chris Duvall, Victor Cabrera, Rod Fanni, Jukka Raitala, Daniel Lovitz — Ken Krolicki, Samuel Piette, Louis Beland-Goyette— Jeisson Vargas, Ignacio Piatti

Notes: Victor Cabrera has 26 interceptions this season, which leads MLS. He had nine interceptions against New England last week, the second most a player has had in a single game this season. … Montreal has won just one of their last seven road games, dating back to last season (6L). They have kept just one clean sheet over that time.

All-Time Series

Overall: New York Red Bulls 9 wins, 31 goals … Montreal Impact 4 wins, 19 goals … Ties 2
At New York: Red Bulls 8 wins, 25 goals … Impact 0 wins, 7 goals … Ties 0
Last meeting at New York: Red Bulls 4, Impact 0 (July 29, 2017)