Red Bulls look primed to make the Quakes shake

MLS
12.30am Thursday

Inconsistency has dogged New York Red Bulls this season but they can record a second successive league win for the first time since April by defeating San Jose Earthquakes at the Red Bull Arena.

When the Red Bulls are on song they are normally getting a tune out of their star striker Bradley Wright-Phillips.

He topped the MLS scoring charts in 2014 and 2016 and he is back in the groove after a slow start to this season.

Wright-Phillips, 32, has netted five goals in his last six league appearances and was on target in the Red Bulls' 3-2 victory at New England earlier this month.

His recently improved performances are great news for New York and a concern for San Jose, who have lost on six of their nine MLS road trips this season.

The Earthquakes are fifth in the Western Conference but were well beaten 4-2 at Atlanta United last time out.

International call-ups denied them four players – Jamaican left-back Shaun Francis, Costa Rican attacker Marco Urena, Panamanian midfielder Anibal Godoy and El Salvador midfielder Darwin Ceren – for the trip to Atlanta and all of them remain on duty at the Concacaf Gold Cup. Urena, Godoy and Ceren are regular starters and are likely to be missed.

The Red Bulls are having to get by without Jamaican left-back Kemar Lawrence and Panamanian right-back Amir Murillo.

But they did not look too inconvenienced by the duo's absence when winning at New England a fortnight ago and are likely to continue their mini-revival by posting a sixth home league win of the campaign.

Recommendation
New York Red Bulls -1 on Asian handicap
1pt Evs Paddy Power

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