Two days after getting shut out 2-0 by Los Angeles FC, the New York Red Bulls travel to ScottsMiracle-Gro Field carrying bruises and a shrinking points cushion. Michael Bradley’s side have won just once in their last five Eastern Conference outings, and Saturday’s trip to Columbus offers no soft landing. The Crew are in equally rough shape, sitting 13th in the East with 23 points, four behind the Red Bulls and well adrift of the nine playoff spots. Both clubs need a response; neither is in any position to absorb another dropped result.
What’s at stake
The Eastern Conference sends nine teams to the MLS playoffs, and right now both Columbus and New York are watching that door from the outside. The Red Bulls sit 12th with 27 points, two points below Toronto FC in 10th and two above the Crew. The top nine stretches from Nashville SC on 53 points all the way down to New York City FC in ninth on 29, so the gap from 12th to the final playoff spot is just two points. That is tight enough to keep this match meaningful, but comfortable enough that neither side faces elimination panic.
A Columbus win would pull the Crew to within one point of the Red Bulls and apply real pressure on the playoff fringe above them. A Red Bulls victory, on the other hand, would push New York to 30 points and into genuine contention for a top-nine finish, while leaving the Crew nine points off the playoff line with the season entering its final stretch. The margin for error is thinning for both, particularly for Columbus, whose goal difference of minus-six trails New York’s plus-minus of minus-sixteen only in the sense that neither club is defending particularly well.
How they got here
Columbus have gone L-W-L-L-L across their last five competitive fixtures. After a 3-0 home win over Colorado Rapids on September 5, interim head coach Laurent Courtois watched his side give it straight back, losing 2-1 away at DC United three days later. Before that Colorado result, the Crew had dropped back-to-back home games, falling 1-3 to New England Revolution and 2-3 at Nashville. The Red Bulls’ recent run is no more reassuring: L-D-L-D-L in their last five, with the only points coming from a scoreless draw at Seattle and a 1-1 home split with Chicago Fire. The loss to Philadelphia Union at home, followed by Thursday’s blank against LAFC on the road, leaves Bradley’s group having scored just once in their last three matches.
Columbus sit 13th in the Eastern Conference with 23 points from 24 games, six points behind the playoff line. New York are 12th on 27 points, two points outside the top nine with the same number of games played. The conference leader Nashville SC is on 53 points, which puts the playoff conversation firmly in the mid-table cluster rather than the summit.
Key battle to watch
With Columbus leaking 41 goals this season and the Red Bulls having conceded 48, this match pits two defensively fragile sides against each other. The more telling duel may be in central midfield, where the Crew will look to André Gomes and Brais Méndez to control tempo and limit the Red Bulls’ ability to transition quickly. New York rely on the energy of players like Emil Forsberg and Cory Cowell in the half-spaces, and if Columbus can keep them pinned back and slow the game down, they have the better chance of stealing three points at home. Conversely, if the Red Bulls can win the second ball and push numbers forward early, Bradley’s side have shown they can punish disorganized defenses, even if their own has been porous all season.
Key Stats
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Our Prediction
Neither side is playing with any confidence right now, and both have defensive records that invite goals at both ends. Columbus have the home advantage and a slightly fresher squad after the Red Bulls played just 48 hours ago, which could be the difference in a tight, scrappy affair. Expect a low-scoring result where set pieces and individual errors are more likely to settle the outcome than any sustained tactical superiority from either bench.