A rematch of the 2024 MLS Cup final will take place on Saturday when the New York Red Bulls host the Los Angeles Galaxy at Red Bull Arena.
Last week, the Red Bulls fell below the Eastern Conference playoff line with a 4-1 loss at Inter Miami, while the Galaxy are bottom of the West standings following a 1-0 defeat versus Sporting Kansas City.
Match preview
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What was a solid start to 2025 has been all but forgotten for the Red Bulls in recent weeks, as this team have just one victory in their last four regular-season affairs.
Sandro Schwarz's side suffered just one defeat in their opening five matches of the season but will enter Saturday a point below the post-season line in the East.
All of their MLS victories this year have come at Red Bull Arena, while they have only suffered one defeat on home soil (2-1 versus DC United).
While their overall domestic campaign has not been great, the Red Bulls have yet to lose consecutive games in the competition this year.
The Red Bulls boast a 100% record in the league this year when scoring the opening goal and have points in 13 consecutive domestic fixtures after drawing first blood.
New York have not lost a regular-season contest versus either of the LA clubs since Los Angeles FC beat them 2-0 at Banc of California Stadium in June 2022.
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Now, 11 matches into the domestic campaign, and we continue to wait for the reigning MLS Cup champions to find their mark in 2025.
With a mere three points in MLS thus far, it is officially their worst start to a regular season in club history, as they remain the only side in the West without a victory.
Greg Vanney's team have failed to find the back of the net in five league fixtures this year, which is already more than they had in the 2024 regular season (four).
A fourth consecutive defeat this weekend would mark their longest losing run in this competition since 2020, when they lost six in a row.
Two of their three points accumulated this year have come away from home, while all three of their results in 2025 so far were from a losing position.
LA have points in two of their previous three visits to Red Bull Arena, though their last triumph in New Jersey against them took place in 2017 (3-1).
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Team News
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Against the Herons, the Red Bulls were missing Serge Ngoma due to a thigh strain, while Cameron Harper, Daniel Edelman and Dylan Nealis were all sidelined because of hamstring injuries.
At the same time, knee injuries kept Lewis Morgan and Marcelo Morales out of the lineup for that match, although Felipe Carballo returned from a sore knee.
Mohammed Sofo had the only goal for the reigning MLS Cup runners-up in their defeat last weekend, a mere consolation in his team's forgettable performance.
Once again Los Angeles did not have Riqui Puig available to them last Sunday as the former Barcelona product continues to recover from a torn ACL.
From matchday 10 to 11, Vanney made two changes to his starting 11 with Maya Yoshida replacing Mathias Jorgensen at the back and Marco Reus coming in for Isaiah Parente.
John McCarthy collected his 50th cap across all competitions for the Galaxy, and he did not face a single shot on target, the first time a team in league history had lost in that scenario, with an own-goal by Yoshida being the only one of that match.
New York Red Bulls possible starting lineup:
Coronel; Duncan, S. Nealis, Eile, Valencia; Carballo, Stroud; Sofo, Forsberg, Bogacz; Choupo-Moting
Los Angeles Galaxy possible starting lineup:
McCarthy; Yamane, Garces, Yoshida, Nelson; Cerrillo, Parente; Pec, Reus, Paintsil; Ramirez
We say: New York Red Bulls 1-2 Los Angeles Galaxy
A Red Bulls team that that have shown plenty of inconsistencies of late may be just what the Galaxy need to earn that elusive first victory at long last.
Defensively, the home side have shown itself to be extremely vulnerable this year and even a side as poor in the attacking third as LA should be able to expose that.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
