It's Matchday 14, and New York City FC are back in town to host the Red Bulls at Citi Field.
It's the first-ever Hudson River Derby held in the World's Borough, a taste of things to come once Queens and the Valley of Ashes officially become New York City FC's permanent home.
The inaugural Queens derby brings together teams sitting in third and fourth in the MLS Eastern Conference, the Red Bulls ahead of New York City by three points. Each team is in form, entering the rivalry match off two consecutive wins, though the Red Bulls have been the more consistent side, with just two losses in their first 13 matches played.
• Matchday 14: New York City FC vs New York Red Bulls
• Date and Time: Saturday, May 18, 7:30 pm ET
• Venue: Citi Field
• Forecast: Overcast but dry, 65F/18C
• Watch: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV
• Apple Broadcast Team: Jake Zivin and Taylor Twellman (English), Bruno Vain and Andrés Agulla (Spanish)
• New York City FC Radio: Glenn Crooks and Matty Lawrence (English), Roberto Abramowitz and Ariel Judas (Spanish)
• Officiating Crew: Rosendo Mendoza (referee), Logan Brown and Kevin Lock (assistant referees), JC Griggs (fourth official), Michael Radchuk (VAR), Tom Supple (assistant VAR)
• Kits: New York City will wear light blue Interboro Kits; Red Bull will wear its red-and-black Legacy Kit.
The Red Bulls have thrived under first-year head coach Sandro Schwarz and make a first trip to Queens riding the high of a 4-1 away win over historic rivals DC United.
Schwarz's Red Bulls, 2024 version, are high-scoring, in a tie for fourth in MLS with 23 goals scored.
They're also less a carbon copy of all the Red Bull teams that came before them, thanks to a less strict adherence to the high-pressing, direct, counterattacking tendencies long associated with the team.
Matthew Mangam
New York City vs New York Red Bulls H2H
| GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 | 8 | 4 | 15 | 25 | 45 | -20 |
Historically, Red Bull has dominated the Hudson River Derby, nearly doubling New York City’s win total in the series.
The Red Bulls went undefeated vs. New York City FC in the three Hudson River Derby matches played in 2023, though the most recent meeting between the teams was the rivalry’s first-ever 0-0.
2023 was the first calendar year without a New York City win over the Red Bulls since 2021, which was also the last year NYCFC lost the home installment of the Derby.
Being home has helped New York City in this fixture, as they are 6 W-2 D-3 L all-time when hosting their cross-river rivals.
New York City
•Player Availability: Midfielder Maxi Moralez (ACL) and defender Rio Hope-Gund (leg) are unavailable. Strahinja Tanasijević is out serving an additional one-match suspension for his role in the post-match fracas in Toronto last weekend.
• What kind of Starting XI does Nick Cushing have in mind for the Red Bull clash? Who starts at left-wing, and at right-back? Is Alonso Martínez now entrenched at striker, or might Mounsef Bakrar get another chance?
• James Sands remains one caution away from a suspension due to yellow card accumulation, and was held out of the squad entirely for the win vs. Philadelphia. He looks likely to slot back into the lineup for the derby.
Red Bulls
•Player Availability: Ronald Donkor (hip), Roald Mitchell (knee), Serge Ngoma (knee), and Peter Stroud (ankle) are all officially out. Emil Forsberg is listed as questionable due to an illness.
• To learn more about how the Red Bulls have changed under head coach Sandro Schwarz, read our latest edition of Oppo Research with Hudson River Blue's resident Red Team Informant Michael Battista, who describes some of the style differences introduced by the new manager.
• Omir Fernandez may be gone, but goalkeeper Carlos Coronel remains, and has kept six clean sheets in his nine Hudson River Derby appearances across all competitions.
• Will the $6 Million Red Bull play? Emil Forsberg has been a difference-maker since arriving from Red Bull Leipzig, but he's officially on the injury report as questionable and might be a doubt to get his first taste of the rivalry—unless that illness is more of an "illness" for the sake of some injury report gamesmanship.
