• Matchday 14: New York City FC vs New York Red Bulls
• Date and Time: Saturday, May 17, 4:30 pm ET
• Venue: Citi Field, Queens, NY
• Forecast: Warm, humid, showers earlier, 75F/24C
• Watch: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV
• Apple Broadcast Team: Neil Sika and Lloyd Sam (English), Jose Bauz and Ivan Kasanzew (Spanish)
• New York City FC Radio: Glenn Crooks and Matty Lawrence (English), Roberto Abramowitz and Ariel Judas (Spanish)
• Officiating Crew: Allen Chapman (referee), Cory Richardson and Kevin Klinger (assistant referees), Matt Thompson (fourth official), Greg Dopka (VAR), John Krill (assistant VAR)
• Kits: New York City will wear the light blue Excelsior Kit; Red Bulls will wear the red Legacy Kit
The first Hudson River Derby of 2025 is here and it's back in Queens.
This will be the third time New York City FC hosts New York Red Bulls at Citi Field, the 31st time the two cross-river rivals will play spanning all competitions, and the first time they'll meet since the Red Bulls ended New York City's 2024 season by winning the only Hudson River Derby staged in the MLS Cup Playoffs.
New year, new season, new coach making his derby debut for New York City, and a newish-looking Red Bulls for Pascal Jansen and company to contend with. The team that calls Harrison, New Jersey home imported 36-year-old striker Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting (7 goals through 13 games) to lead their attacking line, but they also said goodbye to key players from the team that made the run to MLS Cup (and lost) in 2024, like fullback John Tolkin, forward Dante Vanzeir, and defender Andrés Reyes, to name just a few.
The offseason makeover has not yet led to great results for the Red Bulls, as they share an identical record with a similarly up-and-down New York City FC through 13 games. Both teams picked up 18 points from 13 games, though Red Bull holds 8th Place to NYCFC's 9th Place in the Eastern Conference thanks to a superior goal differential (aided by that recent 7-0 beatdown of the LA Galaxy).
New York City enters this latest derby winless and goalless across their last three matches and with just two goals scored across their last five played. Goals are historically common when the Red Bulls and NYCFC meet, but good results in this fixture historically haven't come easy for New York City.
New York City vs Red Bulls H2H - All Competitions
| GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | 10 | 4 | 16 | 32 | 49 | -17 |
New York City vs Red Bulls H2H - MLS Matches
| GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | 10 | 4 | 11 | 32 | 38 | -6 |
The Red Bulls have undoubtedly gotten the better of New York City over the years.
New York City has suffered more losses to the Red Bulls than to any other MLS team, 16 across all competitions, and has conceded more goals to the Red Bulls, 49, than to any other MLS team. Admittedly, it helps that they've faced the Red Bulls more often than any other MLS team, with this match at Citi Field surpassing the 30 times New York City has played the New England Revolution.
New York City won both MLS regular-season meetings with the Red Bulls in 2024 and by the lopsided combined score of 7-2, inflated slightly by that shocking 1-5 away win by NYCFC at then-Red Bull Arena on September 28. The first derby at Citi Field almost one year ago to this date, May 18, 2024, tilted in New York City's favor thanks to a late Mounsef Bakrar (!) goal, unbreaking a tie after Hannes Wolf and RBNY's Cameron Harper exchanged goals in the first half.
The New York City playoff derby defeat, a mostly comfortable 2-0 win for the Red Bulls behind first-half goals from Felipe Carballo and Dante Vanzeir, erased most of the fuzzy and warm memories of those back-to-back regular season wins.
Oliver Strand
New York City Scouting Report
• Player Availability: Malachi Jones (leg), Keaton Parks (foot), and Kevin O'Toole (leg) all remain unavailable due to injuries.
• Aiden O'Neill appeared in both New York City matches since arriving from Belgium but didn't start in the midweek trip to DC United, and was limited to 60 minutes in his debut against CF Montréal. With Keaton Parks still missing with a foot injury, can O'Neill put in a full shift, or something close to it, in his first Hudson River Derby?
• While New York City is mired in a three-match scoring draught, Citi Field has usually been a place for goals for the home team. This will be NYCFC's 26th match across all competitions played at the Queens ballpark and only five times have they been held scoreless (yes, that includes the last meeting with the Red Bulls). The team scored 37 goals and ran up a +10 goal differential while going 13W-6D-6L across their previous 25 trips to Citi.
• Oliver Strand did the legwork: He walked the concourses at Citi Field during a recent New York City FC Matchday and meticulously updated this guide to all the new and notable things available to eat at the notoriously good-for-eating Queens ballpark. If the stress of another derby has you reeling you can always turn to a few oversized Cookie Crumz cookies to ease the pain.
Oliver Strand
• Matthew Mangam, meanwhile, did the legwork on the Red Bulls, talking to our resident expert from the red side of the Hudson River, Michael Battista, for the latest installment of Oppo Research. Learn more about how much RBNY misses the injured Lewis Morgan, what to expect from the duo of Emil Forsberg and Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting, and why the Red Bulls are confident coming into Queens.
Matthew Mangam
