Soccer

Red Bulls, heading to Chicago, try to avoid dreadful start

After last year’s slow start, the Red Bulls are trying to avoid a repeat. They’re in danger of a three-game winless skid to open this season, and to prevent that, they’re going to have to earn a victory Sunday in Chicago (3 p.m., MSG), where they haven’t won in nearly nine years.

“It’s all mental to me,’’ said head coach Mike Petke, who scoffed at their Chicago woes the same way he rejected the notion of a trophy-less curse. “You look at New England, we haven’t won a game in however long. Chicago — it’s all mental to me.

“If you’re mentally strong enough to get over certain things and just stick to what you want to do and what you can do to help the team, well then you’re better off for it. If you go in and just take it as a game on the road and not give a full effort, well, I guess whatever curses there are will remain intact.”

The Red Bulls (0-1-1) never have won at Toyota Park, a mind-bending 0-7-3 with a minus-12 goal differential. They haven’t beaten the Fire on the road since May 14, 2005, when they still were playing in Soldier Field.

And they’ll have to try to find a way with center back Armando suspended for his serious (borderline dirty) foul on Colorado striker Deshorn Brown, and with their midfield struggling and lacking creativity.

“They have 11 guys that work completely, which poses a problem unless you match their work rate. That’s first and foremost, every game,’’ Petke said.

“Words are words. I can say it all until I’m blue in the face: We have to work hard, we have to get a result, we haven’t won here in so long. But at the end of the day, it’s about preparation, and are the players going to step up and take those things to heart.”