New York Red Bulls vs. New York City FC | 2018 MLS Match Preview

Dylan Butler

New York Red Bulls vs. NYCFC
2018 MLS Regular Season - Week 10
Red Bull Arena — Harrison
May 5 - 1:55 pm ET
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The NY Derby heats up again Saturday afternoon, and this might be the most anticipated crosstown clash yet, with both New York City FC and the New York Red Bulls sporting young, dynamic and deep squads in 2018.

After losing the first four derby matches, New York City FC have won three of the last five (1L-1D). The draw last August was the first in the rivalry’s history in league play, per Opta.

New York Red Bulls

The Red Bulls (4-3-0) won their first road game in 2018 league play Saturday, defeating the LA Galaxy, 3-2, to hand the hosts their third straight defeat at StubHub Center.

Bradley Wright-Phillips had a pair of assists, setting up Danny Royer for his first MLS goal of 2018 and Florian Valot’s goal early in the second half that put the visitors in front 2-0.

After the Galaxy rallied to level, Kaku struck from the penalty spot to secure all three points. Wright-Phillips and Kaku were named to the MLS Team of the Week presented by Audi for Week 9.

"We'll be really fired up and really ready for a massive challenge for us at this point in our season, and a chance for us to prove to ourselves that we're a good team and that we've made progress and that we're ready for big challenges," Red Bulls coach Jesse Marsch said.

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: None
International duty: None
Injury Report: OUT: D - Kyle Duncan (ACL surgery), D - Connor Lade (ankle sprain); QUESTIONABLE: M - Marc Rzatkowski (calf)

Projected Starting XI
(4-2-3-1, right to left)
GK: Luis Robles — Michael Murillo, Aaron Long, Tim Parker, Kemar Lawrence — Tyler Adams, Sean Davis — Florian Valot, Kaku, Danny Royer — Bradley Wright-Phillips

Notes: Last Saturday’s victory marked the first time in his 146 career MLS appearances that Wright-Phillips recorded multiple assists in a match. … Last weekend marked the fifth time this season that the Red Bulls have scored 3+ goals in a league match. They did so seven times in the 2017 regular season.

New York City FC

Led by David Villa, NYCFC (6-1-2) bounced back from their first loss of the season to hand FC Dallas their first defeat of 2018, winning 3-1 Sunday night at Yankee Stadium. Villa, who along with fullback Ben Sweat was named to the MLS Team of the Week presented by Audi, struck for a brace, including his historic 400th career goal for club and country on a 36th-minute penalty kick.

Villa also helped set up a goal by Jesus Medina just three minutes after kickoff, and added a 69th-minute insurance goal as NYCFC moved back on top of the Supporters' Shield table with 20 points.

“It’s always good to win the game before the derby,” NYCFC coach Patrick Vieira said after the match.

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: M - Alex Ring
International duty: None
Injury Report: QUESTIONABLE: M - Ismael Tajouri-Shradi (hamstring), D - Ronald Matarrita (lower body)

Projected Starting XI
(4-2-3-1, right to left)
GK: Sean Johnson — Anton Tinnerholm, Alex Callens, Maxime Chanot, Ben Sweat — Alex Ring, Yangel Herrera — Jesus Medina, Maxi Moralez, Jo Inge Berget — David Villa

Notes: Villa scored his 400th and 401st professional goals for club and country last weekend. It was his 15th brace since joining MLS, three more than any other player. … The Cityzens’ 3-0 loss at Portland snapped a streak of 11 consecutive MLS away matches with a goal (inc. playoffs). They have not been shut out in back-to-back league road games since Oct. 30, 2016-Mar. 4, 2017 (22 games since).

All-Time Series

Overall: New York Red Bulls 5 wins, 21 goals … NYCFC 3 wins, 11 goals … 1 tie
At New York: Red Bulls 3 wins, 9 goals … NYCFC 1 win, 5 goals … 1 tie
Last meeting at New York: New York Red Bulls 1, NYCFC 1 (Aug. 25, 2017)