Major League Soccer Fixture of the Weekend: The Hudson River Derby Round 2

 Yankee Stadium will be the site of the second clash between New York City FC and the New York Red Bulls this season.  June 28^th presents a meeting of the fifth placed Red Bulls and an NYC FC side riding their first ever win streak.  NYC FC emerged victorious over Canadian opponents the Montreal Impact and Toronto FC, outscoring the pair by a total of 5-1, in these two previous matches.

The first meeting of this season came at Red Bull Arena on May 10^th.  The Red Bulls will look to finish victorious again as two goals from forward Bradley Wright-Phillips lifted the 10-man Red Bulls over NYC FC.  Setting the stage for this meeting, the atmosphere of a rivalry still in its infancy will only be further elevated when they meet again this weekend.  The supporters of NYC FC and all of Blue York City FC have fueled the sports rise in notoriety as transfer rumors continue to swirl about Andrea Pirlo joining the boys in blue. 

Heading into this game riding a three-game MLS win streak, the Jason Kreis coached NYC FC side has been in exciting form as they aim to move up the standings.  Sitting currently in 8^th of the Eastern Conference, the Red Bulls enter positioned in 5^th.  Forward Bradley Wright-Phillips will need to once again lead the Red Bull’s attack when they come off a midweek match against Real Salt Lake.  David Villa will be tasked with similar duties; the prolific forward has tallied 6 goals and 3 assists through 16 games this season.

Major League Soccer has brought quite a buzz to the Big Apple.  The Hudson River Derby is one of the must watch fixtures of the weekend presenting a matchup of in form goalkeepers.  The Red Bulls have been provided with a plethora of highlight saves by Louis Robles with the 31-year-old in the midst of a great season, having already recorded 3 shutouts over the course of the first 14 games.  At the other end of the field stands 6’4’’ Josh Saunders who has saved 54 of the 74 shots he has faced in 15 appearances, recording a total of 3 shutouts as well.

NYC FC and U.S. international midfielder Mix Diskerud has been instrumental in the team’s success.  The 25-year-old faces off with fellow a midfielder who has also featured for the U.S. internationally, Sasha Kljestan.  Kljestan playing in a more advanced position, supporting the lone forward, will battle Diskerud for dictating the flow of possession. 

There will be no shortage of action come game time as NYC FC pursue the first win over their bitter cross town rivals.