Red Bull New York is treating the final seven matches of the 2026 MLS regular season schedule as if they were seven finals.
Saturday’s meeting with San Diego FC will begin a crucial final stretch as the eighth-place Red Bulls look to secure a berth in the MLS Cup playoffs.
“The end of the season is very important,” defender Julian Bazán said ahead of Saturday’s match. “We are in the middle of the table. So I talk with the coach, and we are agreeing. We have seven finals. Yeah, it’s very important to win, start to keep the [clean sheet] in the defense, to score goals in the attack.
“We need to stay compact, very strong. We share a lot of moments here in the facility. So it’s moment to keep going, keep pushing in these seven finals. We have the opportunity. It’s a beautiful challenge, but it’s in our hands.”
Saturday will be the first time that the Red Bulls and San Diego have met in a competitive match.
San Diego has fallen to 12th place in the Western Conference and hasn’t earned a victory since August 29. Although San Diego is in a poor run of form, Red Bull New York head coach Michael Bradley and his players aren’t overlooking a talented opponent that finished top of the Western Conference last season.
Dreyer, Ingvartsen Pose Threats To Red Bull New York Back Line
Forward Marcus Ingvartsen leads San Diego with 12 goals, while 2025 MLS Best XI honoree Anders Dreyer has chipped in 11 goals and supplied 12 assists.
“We have big respect for San Diego,” Bradley stated. “Obviously, they had a really good season last year. In their good moments, they play really good football. They have interesting ideas. They have players in the attack who can score goals in any moment.
“We always spent a good amount of time watching them and trying to understand, and trying to be able to give our players the best possible picture of what to expect from the game. In the end, it always comes back to us and how we play and how we want to go after the game.”
Red Bull New York goalkeeper Ethan Horvath will need to continue his strong form. The 31-year-old netminder has made 17 saves in his last four appearances, the fourth-most in Major League Soccer between Matchday 25 and Matchday 28.
Hall, Mehmeti Return To Red Bull New York After USMNT Success
Fresh off scoring three goals in his first four United States men’s national team appearances, forward Julian Hall will look to inspire the Red Bulls to a victory on Saturday.
“We’re really proud of Jules,” Bradley said. “You want turn to your players when they have the opportunity to go and represent their national team, especially the young ones that now get their first call-up. You want them to go and show their personality, show their quality, show who they are as players, as human beings, as competitors, as teammates. You want them to go and listen and learn and soak it all in, but not be afraid to show who they are.
“I think the best thing that you could say about Jules is he went and showed who he is. You could see it from the first game when he came on the field against Peru. He was ready to run, he was ready to be aggressive, he was ready to attack space, he was ready to run into the box. He was ready to chase and press, and obviously, it got him a goal. When he got chances in the games after that, he was fearless. We’re really proud of him.”
Midfielder Adri Mehmeti played for 81 minutes across three appearances for the USMNT. It’s clear that both high-potential youngsters have a bright future ahead of them for club and country.
Red Bull New York and San Diego FC Lineup and Injury News Ahead of Saturday’s Match
Bradley will have the opportunity to choose from a full-strength squad after defender Justin Che (ankle), winger Cameron Harper (hamstring) and defender Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty (hamstring) were removed from the MLS Player Availability Report.
Red Bull New York II winger Pedro Castro was added on a short-term agreement ahead of Saturday’s contest.
UPDATE: 6:30 PM ET:
Red Bull New York announced the following starting XI vs. San Diego FC:
Horvath, Nealis (C), Bazán, Che, Padelford, Mehmeti, Donkor, Sofo, Ruvalcaba, Hall, Cowell
Subs: McCarthy, Castro, Choupo-Moting, Dos Santos, Forsberg, Kone, Marshall-Rutty, Parker, Ruiz
San Diego will be without defender Osvald Søe, who is dealing with a lower-body injury.
UPDATE 6:35 PM ET:
San Diego FC announced the following starting XI vs. Red Bull New York:
Dos Santos, Verhoeven, Duah, Sargeant, Godoy, Tverskov (C), Pirani, Dreyer, Ingvartsen, Achouri
Subs: Sisniega, McVey, Thórhallsson, Alvarado, Mimbang, Valakari, Pellegrino, Zamblé, Bakambu
Saturday’s match between Red Bull New York and San Diego FC is scheduled to kick off at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time at Sports Illustrated Stadium. The match will be broadcast on Apple TV.
Tony Husband will call the match in English alongside Ross Smith, while Diego Pessolano provides Spanish play-by-play with Daniel Chapela. Matt Harmon and Steve Jolley will be on the call on Red Bulls Radio starting with “Countdown to Kickoff” at 7 p.m. Eastern Time.
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