With the Red Bulls aiming for a first-place finish in the East, they will have their fate in their hands— or at their feet. They’re sitting just two points off the pace and face leaders Sporting KC three times in their final nine games, starting Sunday night at Livestrong Park (9 p.m., ESPN2) without Thierry Henry and Rafa Marquez.
Henry’s girlfriend had a baby Thursday night and he will be on paternity leave, and Marquez isn’t expected back from injury until after next month’s international break. The Red Bulls will play their biggest game of the season without both.
“We’re breathing down their necks and there’s a lot of pressure on them to get a good result, and on us to [win],’’ said midfielder Tim Cahill, who will try to plug a defense that has leaked multiple goals in five of the last eight games. “We need to talk more. … It can be fixed, but it doesn’t happen overnight. But we’re trying to make it right on the football pitch. It’s in our own hands and in their own hands.’’
Despite playing a 4-3-3, Sporting KC has no such defensive problems. They’re 10-1-1 with just four goals allowed in the dozen games with their first-choice back four of Chance Myers, Aurelien Collin, Matt Besler and Seth Sinovic. But they’re not explosive, while the high-scoring Red Bulls can’t stop anybody.
“It’s in or hands, so I like that part. We don’t need anybody else to beat Kansas City. We can do it three times by ourselves,’’ said Red Bulls general manager Erik Soler, adding his team needs to fix its porous defense.
“We need to sort that out, because you can’t expect us to score three goals every game to win a game, and especially if you go away for the playoffs, you can’t let two or three goals in,” he said. “It’s too hard. So we need to sort it out. We need to close the door and were going to do it.’’
brian.lewis@nypost.com