The 2014 Major League Soccer season is hitting a critical stage in its season, and with less than eight games remaining in the regular season, playoff spots are filling up.

The Eastern Conference has been very competitive this season, with D.C. United leading the way with 47 points. Fighting for the playoff spot are the New York Red Bulls and the Philadelphia Union.

The Red Bulls are 8-8-10 this season, giving them 26 points. The Union have 27 points, and are in the fifth place in the Eastern Conference. Only the top five teams make the postseason in each conference, so the Red Bulls are going to need a terrific September to compete for a championship.

The Red Bulls are coming off a terrific regular season in which they won 17 games and received 59 points, the most in the entire league. For their great regular season, they were rewarded the Supporters Shield. Unfortunately, the Red Bulls were upset by the No. 4 seed Houston Dynamo in the Conference Semifinals.

This season hasn't gone nearly as good for the Red Bulls, but they're still very much alive in the East with eight games left to play.

England-born forward Bradley Wright-Phillips is having a fantastic season with a league-high 21 goals scored. The Red Bulls next highest scorer on the team is Thierry Henry, who has just eight goals. The rest of this team is going to have to show up to provide more balance on offense. Goalkeeper Luis Robles has played and started all 26 games for the Red Bulls this year. So far, he has recorded a 1.50 goals against average and three shutouts.

An impressive 2-1 victory against the No. 2 seed Sporting Kansas City could be a sign of things to come. The Red Bulls have been a very good passing team, but the goals just haven't been there. The Red Bulls next game will be against DC United on Wednesday at Red Bulls Arena in Harrison, New Jersey.

Former Red Bulls player Mike Petke is the current head coach. After a disappointing ending to last season, he is looking to bring his team back to the playoffs. Petke recently expressed to his team, "No more talking, it's time for results." The team only has a plus-two goal differential this season (41 goals for 39 against) and they rank No. 8 overall in goals in the league.

The Red Bulls and Union will be playing each other on Sep. 13 in an extremely critical game.

Standings

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