Harrison, NJ (Sports Network) - Red Bull New York will be gunning to clinch a spot in the upcoming Major League Soccer playoffs when it hosts the Kansas City Wizards at Red Bull Arena on Saturday night.
For New York (13-8-5) the equation is simple, a win an it clinches at least the second seed in the Eastern bracket of the MLS Cup playoffs.
For Kansas City, it is much tougher. The Wizards (9-10-6) are currently the only team that has a realistic shot of cracking the top eight in the league table. The Wizards currently sit six points back of San Jose and Seattle, who own the last two playoff spots.
For K.C. to have any chance, however, it needs to find a way to win against a star-studded New York team that is in form at the moment, especially after falling to FC Dallas 3-1 last weekend.
"We know it's not going to be easy," Wizards captain Davy Arnaud told mlssoccer.com, "but I think we're all really looking forward to the game. We're excited about the chance to get right back on the horse after the disappointing result last weekend and kind of get that out of our minds."
The Wizards could catch a break as it looks like one of New York's top players, midfielder Rafa Marquez, could miss Saturday's game with a knee injury.
"He knocked his knee a couple days ago in practice," New York coach Hans Backe told mlssoccer.com on Friday. "He didn't train today. He is uncertain I'd say for tomorrow."
Also expected to miss Saturday's game for New York are midfielders Luke Sassano, Brian Nielsen and Irving Garcia, and defender Carey Talley.
The Red Bulls should get striker Thierry Henry back after he missed last weekend's clash with vs. Los Angeles, however.
Kansas City will be without midfielder Zoltan Hercegfalvi and forward Ryan Smith because of injuries.