The Red Bulls will be back in action on Thursday, March 2nd as they face the Vancouver Whitecaps away in the second leg of the CONCACAF Champions League Quarterfinals.
Coming off of a less-than-stellar performance at home in the first leg, the New York Red Bulls will seek to pull themselves out of a hole. Despite drawing 1-1, Vancouver leads the series with an away goal and the Red Bulls will be fighting an uphill battle against a club which has typically been a thorn in the Bulls’ side.
On Tuesday, Red Bulls Head Coach Jesse Marsch noted that left back Kemar Lawrence would be eligible for Thursday’s game following his suspension from the first leg due to yellow card accumulation. Jamaican star Lawrence will likely see time over Justin Bilyeu for the upcoming match, having proven himself as a reliable starter the past two seasons. Marsch acknowledged the kinks in the Red Bulls’ play last week, being somewhat kind and chalking it up to a need to get more familiar with the newly preferred 4-2-2-2 formation.
The Red Bulls side will likely remain wholly un-tampered as the team showed moments of flair during the first leg of the series, however, they will need to work on making productive use of possession and effectively passing the ball (features of a shortened preseason). Yet, away games are always inevitably harder in a hostile atmosphere and the Whitecaps could prove to be a tough nut to crack for a Red Bulls side who always chokes under any sort of playoff pressure.
Vancouver proved they could hold their own away from home, although they didn’t do so convincingly. Rusty joints and passages of play marked the struggle for both clubs during the first leg, while the Whitecaps were left depleted due to a string of injuries. Reinforcements have arrived for Vancouver, bolstering their push in the second leg.
Over the weekend Vancouver announced they had completed a trade with Orlando City for winger Brek Shea, sending forward Giles Barnes the other way. U.S. international Brek Shea brings with him years of experience abroad as well as positional versatility and scoring threat. His signing coupled with the return of forward Fredy Montero from injury mean the Whitecaps offer a plethora of attacking threat which may derail New York’s hopes of reaching the CCL semi-finals (assuming Shea’s paperwork is completed and Montero is fully match fit). Given the away goal, the ability of the Whitecaps to beat back against the unrelenting Red Bull pressing game, and refreshed players, it is not hard to see the Whitecaps as favorites going into the second leg.
Conversely, a Red Bulls side with another week worth of training and an increased familiarity with the new formation could rout the Whitecaps.
Vancouver will host New York on Thursday at 10pm. This is a game you will not want to miss.
Predicted Lineups:
Whitecaps: Ousted, Harvey, Parker, Waston, Nerwinski, Teibert, Laba, Shea, Manneh, Techera, Hurtado
NYRB: Robles, Lawrence, Collin, Long, Zizzo, Felipe, Davis, Royer, Kljestan, Wright-Phillips, Veron
