New York City FC vs New York Red Bulls Prediction, Preview, and Odds - 9/25/21
New York City FC defeated Cincinnati 2-1 on the road in its most recent MLS fixture on Saturday. Brenner opened the scoring for FC Cincinnati in the fourth minute but Keaton Parks scored an equalizer for NYCFC in the 37th minute. Valentin Castellanos converted a penalty in the 60th minute to give NYCFC the victory and all three points. New York City FC has won three of its last five matches. NYCFC does not have any players listed on its injury report .
The New York Red Bulls defeated Miami 4-0 in south Florida last Friday. Patryk Klimala opened the scoring for New York in the 18th minute and Omir Fernandez scored New York's second goal in the 31st minute. New York’s Fabio scored a brace with goals in the 65th and 89th minute. New York's victory snapped a winless run of three consecutive matches for the Red Bulls. The Red Bulls will play without Aaron Long and Lucas Monzon.
NYCFC Wants Sole Possession of Third in the East
New York City FC is tied on points for third place in the MLS Eastern Conference standings with a record of 11-5-8, 38 points and a +15 goal difference. NYCFC is tied with Orlando City but has more wins. New York City FC has scored 43 goals this season and its back line and goalkeeper have conceded only 28. NYCFC has two wins, two losses and one draw over the last five MLS fixtures. The club has outscored its opponents 7-4 in the last five fixtures. NYCFC is just three points shy of second-place Nashville.
Valentin Castellanos has scored 12 goals to lead New York City FC, while Jesus Medina has scored 8 and Ismael Tajouri-Shradi seven. Maxi Moralez is the leader in assists for New York City FC with eight and Castellanos has seven. Sean Johnson has appeared in 20 of New York City FC’s 25 matches and the goalkeeper has allowed only 22 goals for an average of 1.10 goals per match.
New York falling out of playoff contention
The New York Red Bulls are 11th in the MLS Eastern Conference standings with a record of 7-5-11, 26 points and a +1 goal difference. Although New York routed Inter Miami 4-0 in its last outing, the Red Bulls were winless in three consecutive matches prior to that and are nine points behind seventh place, which is the last qualifying spot for the postseason. The Red Bulls have scored only 29 goals and allowed 28.
The leading goal scorer for the New York Red Bulls is Patryk Klimala with six, while Fabio has scored 5 and Caden Clark and Cristian Casseres Jr. each have four. Fabio is the leader in assists with 6 and Klimala has five, while Kyle Duncan and Clark each have two. Carlos has appeared in each of the New York Red Bulls 25 matches and has allowed 28 goals for an average of 1.12 goals per match.
Pick: New York City FC -200
This will be the first meeting between the two since November of 2020, when New York City FC easily defeated the Red Bulls 5-2. At home this season, New York City FC is unbeaten in eight of its last nine, while on the road the New York Red Bulls have lost four of the last five. NYCFC is battling for third place in the Eastern Conference standings with Orlando City and just three points shy of second, while the New York Red Bulls are 9 points shy of 7th place which is the final qualifying spot for the postseason.
Total: under
New York City FC and the New York Red Bulls both have solid back lines and goalkeepers. New York City FC has allowed an average of only 1.17 goals per match, while the New York Red Bulls have allowed an average of only 1.28 goals per match. The total has finished under the 2.5 goals per match threshold in four of NYCFC’s last five matches.