'Everything to play for' in playoff race, says New York Red Bulls boss Bradley

The New York Red Bulls still have "everything to play for" as they push for a place in the MLS Cup Playoffs, head coach Michael Bradley declared ahead of Saturday's meeting with San Diego FC.

NYRB are eighth in the Eastern Conference with seven regular-season games to play, only one point behind Orlando City in seventh but with two other teams behind them on goal difference.

They had to play without their international players against St. Louis City last week, losing 3-0, following a pair of 1-0 wins over the Columbus Crew and New York City.

But Bradley is not panicking just yet, telling reporters: "There's still everything to play for and everything is still in our hands. 

"There are a lot of big games to come, so, like we always do, we'll look at it and make sure that we find the right ways to improve and make sure we're ready for San Diego.

"We talk a lot as a group about our football and our mentality, where we are in the season, and what we need to do to be a team where, when the games get really big, we can be at our best.

"The last thing we're ever going to do is make excuses. And I'll give the team credit because nobody has batted an eye. 

"We'll get some of our international players back and then be ready to really go after it over the last seven games."

San Diego have even more work to do to reach the playoffs, as they sit 12th in the Western Conference but are four points adrift of the wild-card places.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

New York Red Bulls – Ethan Horvath 

Goalkeeper Horvath is the only New York Red Bulls player to have played every minute of every game this season (2,430), his most minutes played since 2022-23, when he tallied 4,260 minutes in the Championship for Luton Town. 

He has been successful with all 25 of his sweeper-keeper attempts, tied with Toronto FC's Luka Gavran for the most in MLS this season.

San Diego FC – Anibal Godoy 

San Diego's Godoy had a passing accuracy of 95.2% (100/105) against Austin FC last time out. 

He has been especially accurate in the opposing half, passing at a 90.2% accuracy across the past two regular seasons, the second-best figure in MLS among players that have made over 1,000 passes in the opponent's half.

MATCH PREDICTION – DRAW

This will be the first-ever competitive meeting between the New York Red Bulls and San Diego, and both teams are looking to bounce back after disappointing results last time out.

San Diego went into the international break with a 3–3 draw against Austin, having led 3–0, which represented their fifth straight game without a win (D2 L3). 

They became the third team this season to blow a three-goal lead in MLS play, after Sporting Kansas City and Inter Miami, but curiously, they were the first to not lose that game.

NYRB, meanwhile, went down 3-0 to St. Louis City on September 30, and they have only won two of their last six league games (D1 L3).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

New York Red Bulls – 38.3%

San Diego FC – 35.3%

Draw – 26.4%