There are always plenty of reasons to get excited for the NY Derby.
But it’s hard to think of too many better ones than watching the matchup between New York City FC’s David Villa and the New York Red Bulls’ Bradley Wright-Phillips, as the star strikers will collide Saturday at Red Bull Arena (1:55 pm ET | ESPN — Full TV & streaming info).
Over the past three-plus seasons, the two players have combined for over 130 regular-season goals — 67 from Villa and 63 from Wright-Phillips. Since the start of the 2015 campaign, Villa and Wright-Phillips rank first and second, respectively, in scoring — by somewhat of a wide margin.
Player |
Games |
Goals |
|---|---|---|
David Villa (NYC) |
100 |
67 |
Bradley Wright-Phillips (RBNY) |
107 |
63 |
Sebastian Giovinco (TOR) |
90 |
55 |
Kei Kamara (VAN) |
98 |
49 |
Ignacio Piatti (MTL) |
93 |
47 |
Factoring in the season before that — the year before Villa and NYCFC entered the league — Wright-Phillips is the MLS record-holder for most goals over a four-season span, with 85 from 2014-17. He’s been especially impressive against NYCFC, with 10 goals in nine-regular season games. And in the six matches in which he’s scored in the series, the Red Bulls are 5-1-0.
Villa hasn’t had as much success in the rivalry, logging only four career goals vs. the Red Bulls, three of which came in
a 3-2 NYCFC victory
last August — his first MLS hat trick.
But the Spanish legend, who’s making a run at Wright-Phillips’ consecutive four-year goal scoring record, comes into the game fresh off his whopping 400th goal for club and country.
The Red Bulls, meanwhile, lead the all-time series 5-3-1 but NYCFC holds a 3-1-1 edge over the last five meetings.
Buckle up.
RBNY v. NYCFC Saturday @ 2pm ET at Red Bull Arena – Limited tickets available for the NY Derby starting at $40
