Red Bulls Look to Bounce Back in LA

After recording two consecutive losses in competitive games for the first time all season, the Red Bulls will look to get back in the win column when they face Chivas on Saturday night. After a dismal performance last weekend that saw the Red Bulls lose at home to local rival DC, a squad primarily made up of reserves travelled midweek to Chicago for the US Open Cup quarter-finals, where they were beaten 4-0 by a full strength Chicago team. The Red Bulls are on the road again this weekend as they travel to LA to take on Chivas Saturday night. Last time these two teams met Chivas stunned New York at home and came away with a shocking 3-2 victory. The Red Bulls will hopefully be hungry for some revenge tonight and be able to come away with some points.

Inconsistency has plagued the Red Bulls all season. After disappointing at home last weekend, hopefully the squad will be able to pick themselves up again and perform to the potential that they are capable of. The squad remains pretty much unchanged, although Luke Rodgers is listed as questionable for the game, which means we could see Agudelo get the nod to start up top, presumably along with Henry. On paper there is no reason why the should not come away with three points tonight. However, games often can be very different from how they appear before hand, especially with the inconsistency of the Red Bulls. Many teams, the Red Bulls included, have struggled playing away from home this year, especially traveling out west (the most away wins any Eastern Conference team has so far is just three, whereas five teams have just one away win or less). Overall its hard to predict exactly how this game will go. Chivas are a strong side that perhaps goes under the radar a little too much. They certainly won’t make proceedings easy for the Red Bulls, however that being said if the Red Bulls can reach top gear they should have enough to take the three points from the match. New DP goalkeeper Frank Rost could make his MLS debut in tonight’s match. Rost was signed last week. We will see tonight as the game is scheduled to kickoff at 7:30 in LA, a late one for the East Coast at 10:30.

(image courtesy of Getty Images)