The New York Red Bulls are winless in their last five matches and they are slowly losing ground in the Eastern Conference. Wednesday's game against Orlando City SC is everything just short of a must-win game.

Orlando City heads into Wednesday's match trailing just three points behind the Red Bulls in the Eastern Conference. The Red Bulls will face the Philadelphia Union and New York City F.C. -- the Eastern Conference's two top teams -- after Wednesday, and the team needs to get their season back together with a win against Orlando City.

"Anything less than three points is unacceptable," Red Bulls captain Dax McCarty told reporters after Tuesday's practice. "The [Eastern Conference] is really tight right now, so it's exciting to get to this point in the season and having it all to play for."

Orlando City would become tied with the Red Bulls in the Eastern Conference with a win on Wednesday, and Orlando City has a few games in hand.

"If we go into this naive or expecting [Orlando City] to lay down, we'll set ourselves up for failure," Red Bulls coach Jesse Marsch said after Tuesday's training session. "It takes one game to turn a season around."

The Red Bulls have put themselves in a precarious position -- needing a mid-season win against a less-than-stellar Orlando City team -- because their ailing attack has produced only three goals in their last five matches.

Sacha Kljestan and Bradley Wright-Phillips have failed to link up for dangerous opportunities and, in general, the Red Bulls' offense has looked disjointed. The Red Bulls will have a chance to fix that on Wednesday, as Orlando City has surrendered the fourth-most goals in the MLS.

Still, there's uncertainty ahead of Wednesday's game. Orlando City just fired longtime coach Adrian Heath following a 4-0 loss on July 4, and Alicia DelGallo of the Orlando Sentinel reported that Kaka won't play for Orlando City because of a calf injury.

"The uncertainty is what makes them dangerous," Red Bulls goalkeeper Luis Robles said after practice on Tuesday. "They're trying to prove to the organization that they have a good team. They're going to prove to the new coach what they're able to do."

Orlando City faces the Red Bulls on Wednesday at Red Bull Arena, and then the Red Bulls will travel to face the Philadelphia Union on Sunday.

Daniel Falkenheim may be reached at DFalkenheim@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @Thefalkon. Find NJ.com on Facebook.