For the first time in the MLS regular season, St Louis City will welcome New York City FC to CityPark for a matchday two encounter on Saturday.
In their opening fixture, St Louis came from a goal down to draw Real Salt Lake 1-1, while the Pigeons were beaten 1-0 by Charlotte FC.
Match preview
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After blowing many out of the water with their results in year one, many eyes will be on St Louis City this season to see if they can replicate that success in 2024.
The campaign began with a draw versus RSL, their first come-from-behind point since matchday 31 of the previous MLS campaign (2-1 win over Minnesota United).
Last year, Bradley Carnell quickly created a winning culture within the organisation, employing the Red Bull way of high pressing against the ball, an approach which proved to be remarkably successful as they finished first in the Western Conference table during the regular season.
His group can focus on the league for the foreseeable future after being eliminated from their CONCACAF Champions Cup (CCC) tie this week on away goals versus the Houston Dynamo (2-2).
Since their inaugural MLS campaign a year ago, St Louis City are 13-5-3 at home across all competitions but are winless in their last three league contests in the regular season or playoffs.
They had a 100% record versus Eastern Conference sides at home in the previous regular season, scoring three or more goals each time.
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It was another difficult start to a season for the Boys in Blue last weekend, as they were once again missing that decisive attacking quality.
That is what we have come to expect from New York City FC to begin a campaign, with this side losing their last five regular season openers in MLS but following that up with at least a point in their next domestic fixture in each of the past four seasons.
Over the off-season, NYCFC added some young attacking pieces, but we rarely saw the team look threatening against Charlotte, with a mere 0.6 expected goals.
That will put more pressure on the shoulders of head coach Nick Cushing, who has not seen his side win an away match in MLS since July 1, 2023 (1-0 over CF Montreal).
Since Cushing took over as manager in June 2022, the Pigeons have only defeated one Western Conference opponent in the regular season away from home (1-0 at Dallas in July 2022).
Unlike a year ago, this team had plenty of pre-season time together, but there still seems to be a lack of cohesion on the field, while they have looked out of sorts at times.
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Team News
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Kyle Hiebert is questionable for St Louis after missing their opening fixture with a sore knee, while Rasmus Alm is likely out because of a hip injury.
Chris Durkin and Tomas Totland made their club debuts last weekend, with the latter coming on for Eduard Lowen to play the final 10 minutes plus stoppage time.
Samuel Adeniran scored their equaliser on Saturday, his 10th goal contribution in MLS, while Lowen recorded his 15th career assist in league play.
Maxi Moralez missed the opening match of the regular season for New York City as he continues to recover from his right knee injury sustained last year.
Hannes Wolf made his MLS regular season debut, starting in the midfield alongside Santiago Rodriguez and Julian Fernandez, while Jovan Mijatovic debuted off the substitutes bench.
Matt Freese kept his side in the match against Charlotte, saving a penalty from Kerwin Vargas, but he has yet to win an MLS road fixture for the Boys in Blue since replacing Luis Barraza as the first-choice keeper last season.
St Louis City possible starting lineup:
Burki; Totland, Parker, Nilsson, Markanich; Blom, Lowen; Pompeu, Jackson, Adeniran; Klauss
New York City FC possible starting lineup:
Freese; Ilenic, Martins, Risa, O'Toole; Sands, Parks; Mijatovic, Wolf, Rodriguez; Bakrar
We say: St Louis City 1-0 New York City FC
St Louis always seem to find a way to win at home, while the Pigeons might need some time to find that creativity which could unlock opposing defences.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
