Red Bull New York will have an opportunity to earn a second consecutive win when they host the Columbus Crew on Wednesday night.
The Red Bulls return to Sports Illustrated Stadium in good spirits after earning a gutsy 3-1 road victory at windy Soldier Field against Chicago Fire FC on Saturday.
“The result in Chicago was a really important one, obviously, in this last little stretch, we had let some points get away from us,” head coach Michael Bradley said.
“We’re now trying to take the foundation that we have been building and really see if we can be at our best every single game. Chicago was a really good start. Now we’ll get ready for a good Columbus team.”
Red Bulls Look To Build on Chicago Victory
Red Bull New York currently sits in ninth place in the Eastern Conference. The Red Bulls haven’t strung together a two-match MLS winning streak since the first two games of the season against Orlando City SC and the New England Revolution in late February.
That could change on Wednesday if the Red Bulls are composed at the back and clinical in attack. They’ll look to pile the misery on the visiting Crew, who have lost two straight matches and were defeated 3-0 by New York City FC on Sunday.
The Crew have fallen to 12th place in the Eastern Conference. Strikers Wessam Abou Ali (knee) and Jamal Thiare (lower leg) are listed as out for Wednesday’s match, while defender Malte Amundsen (thigh) and midfielder Dylan Chambost (ankle) are questionable.
For the Red Bulls, backup goalkeeper A.J. Marcucci continues to be on a long-term absence after undergoing left knee surgery last August. Veteran forward Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting (knee) is listed as questionable after he scored an 81st-minute penalty on Saturday in Chicago.
Here are some intriguing Red Bull trends ahead of Wednesday’s contest.
Emil Forsberg Has History of Success Against the Crew
Against Chicago, Red Bull New York captain Emil Forsberg became the seventh player in franchise history to record 20-plus league goals and 20-plus MLS assists.
Forsberg has contributed one goal, four assists and an 87 percent pass accuracy through 12 MLS matches this season, and he has a strong track record against Columbus.
The 34-year-old Swedish star has recorded five goal contributions in his last five matches against the Crew. He has also notched three goals across the three occasions that he’s faced Columbus at Sports Illustrated Stadium.
Winger Jorge Ruvalcaba has scored four goals over his last six MLS appearances. He was recently named to Mexico’s 55-player preliminary 2026 FIFA World Cup roster.
Adri Mehmeti Continuing Historic Start to MLS Career
Midfielder Adri Mehmeti enters Wednesday with four MLS assists. The 17-year-old is tied with Real Salt Lake’s Zavier Gozo for second-most league assists among players who are 21 or younger.
“He’s a great kid and has really, really good starting points,” Bradley explained during Monday’s press conference. “When I first started working with him last year, you could see right away. When you start working with him every day, you see up close the qualities that he has.
“You see the football, you see the intelligence. But what you don’t know when you’re just watching on TV or watching from the outside is the personality and the fearlessness and the love for the game. He has this infectious joy and love of training every day – of playing, of competing, and he doesn’t get fazed by anything, and so those starting points are really good ones for a young player.
“We’re really pleased with his progress, and going to continue to do everything we can to help him take it all even further.”
The Red Bulls’ No. 15 is on a historic pace. He is tied for the second-most assists by a player 18 years of age or younger through the first 12 matches of any season in MLS history.
Where To Watch and Stream Red Bulls-Crew on TV and Radio
Wednesday’s match will kick off at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time with Steve Cangialosi calling the match in English alongside match analyst Danny Higginbotham on Apple TV. The Spanish-language Apple TV broadcast will feature Bruno Vain on play-by-play duties, with Andres Agulla joining him.
Fans can also tune in to Red Bulls Radio with Matt Harmon and Steve Jolley broadcasting the match on the official Red Bull New York app and RedBullNewYork.com.
With rivals NYCFC set to visit Sports Illustrated Stadium on Saturday, a victory over Columbus would give the Red Bulls an extra layer of belief ahead of the Hudson River Derby.
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