New York City FC can end a three-match winless run in MLS on Saturday when they welcome the Philadelphia Union to Citi Field in Queens.
Last weekend, the Pigeons suffered a narrow 2-1 defeat at the hands of Minnesota United, dropping them down to 11th in the Eastern Conference, five points below the Union, who are third following a 0-0 draw with Orlando City.
Match preview
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We have seen many similarities to this stage of the 2025 MLS campaign in New York City that were prominent with this team over the past couple of years.
The Boys in Blue are in nearly every game they play but cannot seem to find that extra edge to earn three points, with all three of their defeats this season being by a single goal.
Saturday will be the first regular season encounter for Pascal Jansen as club manager at Citi Field, and in 2024, this team collected points in four of their five domestic games played there.
Another defeat this weekend would equal their longest losing run in this competition from a year ago, while they are in danger of losing consecutive home games in the same MLS season for the first time since May 2023.
The six goals they have conceded in their previous two league contests are one more than they allowed in their opening five matches of the campaign.
They have dropped four points this season when leading in the second half but have won their last four regular-season contests in that position at home dating back to 2024.
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After a strong start to his tenure as Union boss, Bradley Carnell has seen his team regress over the past few weeks, winning just one of their previous four league fixtures.
At the same time, they are currently on 13 points after seven domestic outings, one more than they had at this stage of the previous campaign, the last one for Jim Curtin as head coach.
Philadelphia were the highest-scoring team in the league (13 goals) heading into their meeting with Orlando City last weekend, but they failed to find the back of the net for the first time in league play since August 2024.
On the other hand, the Union have kept two clean sheets in their last three games, suffering just one defeat over that stretch (2-1 at Inter Miami).
Last season, this team lost their final two MLS encounters away from home, but they have begun this season much better, winning two of three league matches played as the visitors and scoring seven goals outside Subaru Park.
Philly are unbeaten in their last five domestic away matches against NYCFC, winning the previous three by a combined margin of 10-2.
Team News
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In their defeat to Minnesota, New York City were once again missing Andres Perea due to a sore hip, while Malachi Jones and Nico Cavallo were sidelined with leg injuries and Jacob Arroyave was unavailable because of a knee strain.
Keaton Parks netted a late consolation goal for his side last Sunday, one minute before the 90, his first of the 2025 MLS campaign.
An oblique injury kept Kai Wagner out of the Philadelphia lineup last Saturday, while the club will reportedly be losing their top goalscorer from last season Daniel Gazdag, with the Columbus Crew on the verge of signing him.
Andre Blake faced three Orlando City efforts in their previous match and stopped them all, giving him three clean sheets on the campaign so far.
New York City FC possible starting lineup:
Freese; Ilenic, Martins, Risa, O'Toole; Parks, Haak; Fernandez, Moralez, Wolf; Martinez
Philadelphia Union possible starting lineup:
Blake; Westfield, Glesnes, Glavinovich, Harriel; Vassilev, Lukic, Jacques; Q. Sullivan; Uhre, Baribo
We say: New York City FC 2-1 Philadelphia Union
Despite the Pigeons' struggling to close out games, we expect to see a highly motivated Matt Freese determined to make a statement, having served as backup to Blake for several years in Philly.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
