In this edition of the Hudson River Blue Roundtable, Andrew Leigh, Matthew Mangam, Mark Radigan, and Oliver Strand look ahead to New York City FC's matchup with Charlotte FC in Round One of the 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs, which will begin on Tuesday, October 28 on the plastic turf at Bank of America Stadium.
First, the roundtable discusses what we we know about this best-of-three series. Then, the pundits play armchair manager and give Head Coach Pascal Jansen some unsolicited advice.
Scouting Report: What we know
• Home-field advantage is real
Charlotte earned 13 wins at home during the MLS season, the most of any team in the league. The record of 13W-1D-3L at Bank of America Stadium this season is imposing, and it’s not a flukey one-year period of dominance. Over the last two MLS seasons, Charlotte went a combined 22W-7D-6L in home matches and had the third-best home points per match number (2.09 PPM) of any MLS team in that time, behind only Inter Miami CF and LAFC (2.11 PPM).
New York City happen to have the same number of home wins, 22, as Charlotte since the 2024 season. Home-field advantage is huge in this series because both these teams are uniquely dominant on their home fields.
Where’s the hope for the visitors from New York City as they face a potential Game One and then must-win (if necessary) Game Three on the turf in North Carolina’s NFL stadium? Even with that scary-good record in 2025, and with the unbeaten head-to-head record vs NYCFC all-time, Charlotte hasn’t been untouchable at home this season.
