New York Red Bulls round out their succession of road trips with a visit to the Bronx for the final time this season. This nationally televised, midweek clash marks the beginning of the annual Heineken Rivalry Week. The upcoming installment of the budding Hudson River Derby promises to be an electric affair, as both teams are fighting for a spot at the top of the table.
The Red Bulls are coming off a hard-fought draw in Vancouver, a match in which they dominated but were ultimately undone by poor defending on set pieces. Royer’s brace was enough to secure a point late and keep them within touching distance of Atlanta United. Royer has quietly found his scoring touch after a poor first half of the campaign. His goals will be key if the Red Bulls hope to keep pace during this difficult stretch of the season. They now face a huge test at the Yankee Stadium, a place in which they have notoriously struggled since the famous Red Wedding of 2016. Unfortunately, Murillo’s questionable red card last weekend means the Red Bulls will be missing a key player in both defense and attack, making the job all the more difficult.
Meanwhile, after a string of wins in July, New York City have hit a roadblock. Domènec Torrent’s defense has been exposed, sparking a difficult run of form. The optimism that followed his arrival in New York has been replaced with concern. The Smurfs need a big result to turn their momentum around and have been given the perfect opportunity to do so against their biggest rivals. Both teams desperately need a victory, setting up potentially the most important and pivotal game in the short history of this rivalry. New York City will be missing a few key players of their own, most notably Peruvian center-back Alexander Callens and Paraguayan attacker Jesus Medina.
Earlier this season, the Red Bulls re-established their dominance over their arch-rivals with a pair of 4-0 wins. The narrative changed when the teams switched coaches, as City secured a narrow home victory against New York Red Bulls in Chris Armas’ first game in charge. Armas will be looking for revenge during what will prove to be a crucial match in the season for both teams.
Match Information
Date: Wednesday, August 22, 2018
Kick-off: 19:00 (ET) | 00:00 (BST)
Venue: Yankee Stadium (capacity: 28,743)
Referee: Ted Unkel
Broadcasting: Fox Sports 1 (USA) | TSN 1/2/4 (Canada)
Previous Meetings
06.20.15: New York City 3-2 New York Red Bulls
08.25.17: New York Red Bulls 1-1 New York City
05.05.18: New York Red Bulls 4-0 New York City
06.06.18: New York Red Bulls 4-0 New York City
07.08.18: New York City 1-0 New York Red Bulls
Current Form
New York City
Philadelphia Union 2-0 (A) | Toronto 2-3 (A) | Vancouver Whitecaps 2-2 (H) | Seattle 3-1 (A) | Orlando City 0-2 (A)
New York Red Bulls
Vancouver Whitecaps 2-2 (A) | Chicago Fire 0-1 (A) | Los Angeles 2-1 (H) | Columbus Crew 2-3 (H) | D.C. United 0-1 (A)
Team News
New York City
Injured: Jordon Mutch (right foot) | Yangel Herrera (ankle) | Cedric Hountondji (hamstring) | Valentin Castellanos (quad) | Jesus Medina (hamstring) | Alex Callens (knee)
Suspended: Ronald Matarrita
New York Red Bulls
Injured: Kyle Duncan (anterior cruciate ligament) | Florian Valot (anterior cruciate ligament) | Vincent Bezecourt (medial collateral ligament)
Predicted Line-ups
New York City
Johnson
Tinnerholm – Chanot – Ibeagha – Sweat
Ofori – Moralez – Ring
Berget – Villa – Shradi
New York Red Bulls
Robles
Lade – Long – Parker – Lawrence
Adams – Davis
Royer – Romero Gamarra – Rzatkowski
Wright-Phillips
Score Prediction
New York City 1-2 New York Red Bulls
