After a 1-1 draw on Tuesday evening that saw the Columbus Crew defeat the Houston Dynamo 2-1 on aggregate to advance to the CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinals, the Crew’s focus shifts back to MLS play as they host the New York Red Bulls on Saturday.

The Red Bulls have gotten off to a good start thus far in 2024 and are showing new life under new head coach Sandro Schwarz. Schwarz’s impact, coupled with star signing Emil Forsberg has helped the Red Bull’s stay unbeaten thus far in 2024 with two wins and a draw. This match pits two teams at the top of the Eastern Conference against each other for the first time in this young MLS season. The Black & Gold will need to be at their very best to take three points from this matchup against their longtime rivals on Saturday. 

New York Red Bulls at a Glance:

Record: 2-1-0, 7 points 

League Form: W, W, D

Leading Scorer: Lewis Morgan (2)

Assist Leader: Lewis Morgan, Emil Forsberg (1)

Player to Watch: Emil Forsberg

Forsberg is one of the marquee signings of the MLS offseason and has hit the ground running so far with New York. Formerly of German side RB Leipzig, Forsberg brings Bundesliga and Champions League experience with him to the Big Apple, not to mention International experience with Sweden.

His experience and quality have been noticed as he transitions to life in MLS. Forsberg has already found the scoresheet in 2024, registering a goal and an assist. The Swede typically operates in the central part of the field for the Red Bulls but has the freedom to roam around the field and find space to operate in. Forsberg isn’t necessarily a player who will run at back lines with the ball, he would rather pull the strings in attack by finding his teammates with well-timed passes in the attacking third.

However, that doesn’t mean Forsberg can’t wiggle past defenders when given the opportunity. Perhaps the thing that sticks out most about his play compared to his contemporaries in MLS is his ball-striking ability. Forsberg can pass, serve crosses, and shoot with the utmost precision. This ball-striking ability makes him incredibly dangerous anywhere in the attacking third as he can score himself or set up his teammates from just about anywhere. The Crew midfield and backline have a tough task to keep Forsberg’s influence limited on Saturday, but if they can, they will keep the NYRB Puppet Master from pulling the strings in attack.

How New York Red Bulls play: 

Under the direction of Sandro Schwarz it’s “not your grandfather’s Red Bull.”

While the high pressing and intensity of play remain, New York is willing to keep the ball thus far in 2024. In addition to its willingness to keep possession more in 2024, the Red Bulls have been far more willing to push numbers into the attack so far this season. This sets an interesting set of circumstances for Saturday’s match, will Red Bull revert back to their more traditional style of pressing and direct play? Or will they try and match the Crew in possession? Very few teams in the MLS can keep possession of the ball, and threaten goal with said possession, like Columbus. Thus, I expect that Red Bull will be happy to press the Crew high up the field and play direct balls in behind for their frontline to chase down.

There is also a question of which formation Schwarz will employ on Saturday.

New York played a 4-4-2 shape in their first two matches before switching to a 4-2-3-1 shape last week. It is worth noting that this change to a 4-2-3-1 shape was made against FC Dallas, who play a very similar 3-4-2-1 formation to the Black & Gold. Thus, I would not be surprised to see Red Bull play out of a 4-2-3-1 shape again on Saturday. 

How the Crew can win:

1. Switch the Point of Attack: Red Bull’s pressing out of their 4-2-3-1 formation last week caused FC Dallas problems. This was in large part due to the struggles that Dallas had in switching the point of attack. When Red Bull presses out of this 4-2-3-1 (or really any formation) they commit a lot of numbers towards the ball to create a numerical advantage to win the ball. Obviously, this means there is space elsewhere for the opponents to exploit. The Crew needs to find this space to beat the Red Bull pressure and progress play up the field. For the Black & Gold to do this, look for one or all of Steven Moreira, Sean Zawadski, and Yeven Cheberko to move slightly higher up the field in the midfield line to receive passes that switch the point of attack. 
2. Defend Long Balls: Houston gave the Crew problems on Tuesday by playing long balls over the wingbacks for attacking players to run onto. Red Bull will look to do exactly the same in this match. This will be especially prevalent if there is no pressure on the Red Bull player in possession. These long balls over the top have been NYRB’s main focus when trying to move play into their opponent’s half. Look for the Columbus wingbacks, centerbacks, and goalkeeper to do a good job cleaning these moments up on Saturday.

Win Transition Battle: As with most matches between Columbus and Red Bull, this match will likely be won in transition. Red Bull have thrived in attacking transition for a long time now, and the Crew have been vulnerable to good attacking transition from their opponents for a long time as well. That part will be nothing new to Crew players, coaches, and fans alike. However this year, Red Bull are far more willing to push their outside backs higher up the field, which creates space for the Crew to counterattack into. Whichever team can win the transition battle on Saturday could very well be the happier of the two sides after 90 minutes.