NYCFC travel to Subaru Park looking to continue their hot streak as they face the Philadelphia Union on Wednesday night.
The Boys In Blue are unbeaten on their last seven matches and are coming off of a dominant 2-0 victory over Inter Miami on Saturday that sent them up to second place in the Eastern Conference table.
The Union are looking for their first win in three, having fallen 2-1 at New England and they followed that up with a 2-0 defeat to Club America in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League semifinals.
Team news
Philadelphia has loaned midfielder Jack De Vries to Italian Serie B side Venezia as the 19-year old continues to recover in concussion protocol. Fellow midfielder Anthony Fontana is also in concussion protocol and isn't likely to feature in this match.
NYCFC come into the contest healthy except for striker Heber, who is still rehabbing his ACL injury as the Brazilian has not featured yet this year.
Predicted lineups
Philadelphia: Blake; Mbaizo, Glesnes, Elliott, Wagner; Flach, Bedoya; Martínez, Gazdag; Przybylko, Santos
NYCFC: Johnson; Amundsen, Chanot, Sands, Tinnerholm; Parks, Morales; Medina, Moralez, Thiago; Castellanos
Ones to watch
Andre Blake is one of the best goalkeepers in MLS and the two goals he let in against Club America were off of a deflection and a penalty. He's kept seven clean sheets this season and is one of the keys to Philadelphia's defense.
NYCFC has many attacking options, but Valentin Castellanos has been the hottest of the group in the last couple of months. He scored both goals against Inter Miami on Saturday and has netted five times in his last six matches.
Previous meeting
On May 1st, the Boys In Blue grabbed a 2-0 victory behind goals from Jesus Medina and Castellanos.
NYCFC opened the scoring on the counterattack. Maxi Moralez won the ball back and carried it into the Philadelphia half. He then passed to Medina, and after spotting Anton Tinnerholm on the overlap slid the Swede in. The Paraguayan then got a return pass and beat Blake to notch his sixth goal in his last eight MLS games.
The Union were down to ten men after Jose Martinez was sent off following video review for throwing his elbow toward Castellanos' head area in the 15th minute.
It was 2-0 after as Castellanos, denied several times in the first half, pounced on a poor back pass and then rounded Blake before finishing the chance with a rabona.
How to watch
The match will be streamed nationally on ESPN+. Coverage in Philadelphia will be provided by PHL17 while the YES Network app is covering all of the action in New York. Kickoff is set for 7:30pm Eastern time.