Two things need to happen for the Red Bulls to clinch an MLS Cup playoff berth Wednesday night.

They need to defeat the New England Revolution and have Inter Miami CF lose or draw against FC Dallas.

The Red Bulls (7-8-5, 26 points) are in eighth place in the Eastern Conference. The top 10 clubs will qualify for the postseason in the East. The Revs (7-5-8, 29) are in eighth place in the East while Inter Miami CF (6-11-3) sits in the 10th and final playoff spot.

The playoffs will consist of single-elimination matches hosted by the higher-seeded team and will follow a straight bracket format through the MLS Cup Dec. 12.

Eighteen clubs will compete in the postseason: 10 from East, 8 from West

Western Conference: Top 8 teams qualify directly to Round 1

Eastern Conference: Only the top 6 seeds qualify directly to Round 1. Seeds 7-10 will each compete in a play-in match:

No. 7 seed vs. No. 10 seed
No. 8 seed vs. No. 9 seed

Lowest seed play-in winner advances to face No. 1 seed in the East

Highest seed play-in winner advances to face No. 2 seed in the East

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.