The Metro is Set to Rock Red Bull Arena! NY Looks To Start The Season 3-0 As They Host Minnesota United In Their Home Opener

After defeating Toronto 4-1 on MD2 north of the border, the Red Bulls won the first two games on the road for the first time in franchise history.

Lewis Morgan bagged a first-half hat trick while Aaron Long headed home the fourth goal & Patryk Klimala had three assists.

The Red Bulls are now set for their home opener as they face Minnesota United at Red Bull Arena Sunday night.

Red Bull after two games has scored seven goals and has only conceded twice (+5 goal differential) while playing a different style of the ball than they did in 2021.

Instead of constantly pressing all over the field coach Gerhard Struber and the boys have “invited” pressure and forced the opposition to make a play.

But Red Bull have been LETHAL on the counterattack this year, punishing both San Jose & Toronto as they now sit atop of the Eastern Conference early in the season with two wins out of two.

For the projected lineup, for Red Bull, “if it ain’t broke why fix it?”

One new addition we could see added to the game-day roster is Red Bulls DP signing Luquinhas after arriving in the US Thursday. With him possibly only getting one team training season on Friday, do not expect Luquinhas to start but if the situation is right, he could see action off the bench in the home opener. **UPDATE (SUN 3/13) Luquinhas is now AVAILABLE for Sunday night**

Another change to look for is if Tom Edwards will step in for Dylan Nealis at RB. Edwards made his season debut off the bench against Toronto, seeing the pitch for 33’ in the victory plus with another full week of practice; you could see Edwards in the XI even with D. Nealis having a great start to the campaign.

And last note on the lineup, we do not know if Cristian Casseres Jr. is going to be available for the game at all, but if he is, we could see Struber go back to the 3-4-2-1 we saw against San Jose MD1 to get CCJR back in the XI.

Now for Minnesota’s lineup, it’s much more concrete.

Other than Will Trapp stepping in for the injured Kervin Arriaga, Minnesota has run out the same lineup for the first two weeks, securing two 1-1 draws at Philadelphia & at home against Nashville.

Now based on the first two games, it seems like Minnesota likes to hold possession and that could be in favor of Red Bull once again as it was north of the border against Toronto & out in Cali against San Jose.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTfK50mw5fo

The player to watch for from Minnesota is going to be Emanuel Reynoso. If you have seen Reynoso before, you know that this Argentine has the ability to break down a whole team BY HIMSELF. So, he is going to need some extra attention from Dru Yearwood throughout the whole 90’.

For Red Bull on the other side, the two key players to watch for have been the two standouts this season so far in Lewis Morgan in the attack & Frankie Amaya in the midfield.

It will be Morgan’s first time stepping into Red Bull Arena as a member of the Red Bulls and it will be interesting to see how he can continue his performance in the Six and score a goal in his home debut.

For Amaya, it’s a little bit different. Last season didn’t go at all to how he envisioned, but to see now that he finally understands how to play in that “Red Bull” system & also has the trust of manager Gerhard Struber, this could truly be his breakout season and could easily be in the running for MLS “Young Player of the Year”.

The game plan for Red Bull for the third game in a row, sit back, force turnovers, and punish Minnesota like they have done time and time again to start the season with seven goals in the first two games.

The prediction for Red Bulls home opener, final score 3-0 Red Bull win & the boys start the season 3-0.

Once again, the younger and more energetic Red Bull team will out dual Minnesota in the midfield, execute counter after counter, and finish their chances to send the fans home very happy as they cruise to a win in the first game at Red Bull Arena in 2022. #NYisRED!

INJURY REPORT

Game Information

Where: Red Bull Arena; Harrison, New Jersey

When: Saturday, March 13th; Coverage @ 6:30 PM EST with the Red Bulls Pregame show and Kick-Off set for 7:00 PM EST

How To Watch: MSG (TV), MSG GO (Streaming)