In search of a first regular-season victory at Subaru Park in over two years, New York City FC continue their MLS campaign on Saturday when they battle the Philadelphia Union.
The Pigeons are on an eight-match unbeaten run in this competition and coming off a 1-1 draw at the Columbus Crew, while the Union ended a two-match losing run in midweek, defeating Nashville SC 2-0.
Match preview
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You cannot seem to keep them down for long, as Philly got back in the win column Wednesday, their first away victory of the season since coming back to beat the Pigeons near the end of May.
Their midweek triumph bumped them up to fourth in the Eastern Conference, just three points behind the New England Revolution for second.
From the beginning of the 2018 regular season until now, this team have not suffered more than two successive regular season defeats, and it is that kind of consistency which earned Jim Curtin a contract extension this week, as he claimed his 128th triumph on Wednesday, the second-most among MLS coaches with one team, behind only Peter Vermes (189) of Sporting Kansas City.
In 2023, the Union are a perfect 9-0 domestically when scoring the opening goal, while their last victory after conceding first came in their previous encounter with New York City in May (3-1).
The Union have not blown out their opponents as much as we saw in 2022, but they are still finding the back of the net with regularity, scoring in nine of their previous 10 regular season fixtures, while notching the fourth-most goals to date in the Eastern Conference (37).
Philly will come into this encounter unbeaten in seven successive domestic outings at Subaru Park, posting five clean sheets over that stretch.
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The Pigeons have picked up just one win in their previous 14 regular season affairs, though interestingly, New York have not lost a domestic encounter since the end of May (3-1 loss at FC Cincinnati).
For weeks, manager Nick Cushing said we would see some new faces on this roster, and the Pigeons have delivered on that promise, acquiring a new striker while also trading for some General Allocation Money (GAM) and signing a home-grown defender to a long-term deal.
It is no big secret that this team have been searching for a number nine who can be relied upon to put the ball in the back of the net, something this team have not had since Taty Castellanos left for Spain last year, with NYCFC scoring fewer goals after 23 matches this season (24) than they ever have at this stage of an MLS campaign.
NYCFC have only picked up 26 points after 23 matches, their second-lowest total ever at this stage of an MLS campaign, just two points more than they acquired at this same point of their inaugural season in 2015.
So far in 2023, the Pigeons have shown resilience but also complacency away from home, coming back to earn a point in three road games when trailing but also dropping six points when leading in the second half as the visiting team, including last Saturday when Sean Zawadzki equalised in the 94th minute for Columbus with the Crew down to 10-men.
They have not lost a regular season road fixture when scoring first since a 3-2 loss to Inter Miami in August 2022, though NYCFC have dropped their last two matches versus the Union despite netting first, falling 3-1 to them in May, while also conceding three unanswered goals in the 2022 Eastern Conference final when they were beaten by that same score.
Team News
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Philly will be missing leading goalscorer Julian Carranza after he was red-carded late in their match with Nashville, Kai Wagner was in the starting 11 in that game after previously straining his hamstring, while Andre Blake and Damion Lowe might be available after Jamaica were knocked out of the Gold Cup by Mexico on Wednesday (3-0).
Daniel Gazdag had a brace in their victory over the Boys in Gold, moving ahead of Mikael Uhre for second on the team in goals (nine), while Joe Bendik made three stops to collect a clean sheet.
In their previous home game versus NYCFC, Carranza had a goal and an assist, while Gazdag and former striker Cory Burke also netted in a 3-1 victory as they advanced to the MLS Cup final last year.
New York City will be without Braian Cufre due to yellow card accumulation, James Sands could be back after the US were knocked out in the semi-finals of the Gold Cup by Panama, while Thiago Martins returned from an injury last weekend, replacing Alfredo Morales after an hour of play.
NYCFC recently signed Drew Baiera to a home-grown contract through until the 2027 MLS campaign with an option until 2028, the Pigeons added Monsef Bakrar from NK Istra 1961 in the Croatian top-flight, inking the Algerian to a contract until 2026 with an option for 2027, while they also traded Tony Alfaro to the Los Angeles Galaxy, receiving £96,218 in General Allocation Money in return this year with an additional £288,653 in GAM should certain performance incentives be met.
Justin Haak notched his first of the season last weekend, while Gabriel Pereira had the only goal when they fell to the Union earlier this season.
Philadelphia Union possible starting lineup:
Blake; Harriel, Glesnes, Elliott, Wagner; McGlynn; Bedoya, Flach; Sullivan; Gazdag, Uhre
New York City FC possible starting lineup:
Barraza; Gray, Chanot, Martins; Ilenic, Morales, Parks, O'Toole; Pellegrini, Pereira; Ledezma
We say: Philadelphia Union 2-1 New York City FC
While the Union have been rather inconsistent since the beginning of June, we believe they will sort things out and find their form like we have seen them do many times in the past.
Bakrar should help New York in front of the goal when he arrives, but they will need more than one new face to turn around their road woes this season.
How to watch
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