Game Day Hub: New York City vs Philadelphia in The Bronx

It's Matchday 29, and New York City FC returns to Yankee Soccer Stadium for the first time since July 28 to face the Philadelphia Union to start a busy week of matches in the Bronx.

Nick Cushing's New York City side is winless in its last seven MLS matches, with NYCFC earning just one win inside 90 minutes across its last 12 matches in all competitions, meaning MLS and Leagues Cup.

Jim Curtin's Union team arrives in New York City outside the playoff places, three points behind DC United for Ninth Place and the Eastern Conference's final MLS Cup Playoff berth. New York City for its part has slid down from Fourth to Sixth Place in the table as it suffers through one of the longest winless runs in the club's history.

Philadelphia recently made it to the Semifinal of Leagues Cup, but the team has emerged from the tournament with two losses from three games played to ding its playoff hopes. Each team will be looking to reverse its recent fortunes in this Wednesday night rivalry match held as the tail-end of the regular season approaches.

New York City vs Philadelphia H2H

The historic head-to-head between these two clubs is close. New York City dominated Philadelphia in their early matchups, but an insurgent Union handed NYCFC five straight defeats between 2022 and 2023.

New York City's away win over Philadelphia this past May was their first victory over the Union since the 2021 MLS Cup Eastern Conference Final.

That was also the game that gave us the legend of Raquinho, who hopefully will be watching from one of the pitchside seats at Yankee Soccer Stadium that will be selling for prices in the thousands for the next game played in the Bronx on Saturday afternoon.

This Topps limited-edition Raquinho trading card is rad

The collectible trading card costs $8.99, and is available until May 19.

Hudson River BlueHudson River Blue Staff

New York City

• Player Availability: Birk Risa (leg) remains out after coming up injured in warmups in Washington, DC, as does Malachi Jones (leg) as he continues his recovery from surgery. Santiago Rodríguez and Justin Haak are each one yellow card away from serving a suspension due to accumulation.
• Strahinja Tanasijević seems likely to start again, doesn't he? He drew praise from Nick Cushing for his professionalism and for his performance after starting in DC as an injury replacement for Birk Risa with just five minutes of notice.
• Hannes Wolf scored a beauty of a match-winning goal against the Union the last time these teams met in May, but the 25-year-old Austrian attacker is currently mired in a streak of seven straight matches without contributing a goal or an assist.
• How much will Nick Cushing rotate his Starting XI, given his team is scuffling and is in the middle of a three-match week, with a visit from Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez to follow this midweek match?

NYCFC now on third-longest winless streak in club history

But the news ain’t all bad. In fact, this is one of the best winless streaks endured by the club: The NYCFC glass isn’t 75% empty, it’s 25% full.

Hudson River BlueOliver Strand

Philadelphia

• Player Availability: Starting goalkeeper Andre Blake (leg) is Questionable and so is midfielder Danley Jean Jacques (ankle). Defender Jack Elliott is suspended due to yellow card accumulation, while defender Isaiah LeFlore (knee) is Out injured.
• Julián Carranza scored Philadelphia's goal in the loss to New York City in May, but he since left for Feyenoord in the Dutch Eredevisie. Tai Baribo has stepped in for Carranza and thrived, scoring 14 goals in 20 appearances in all competitions, while Dániel Gazdag is also still here and holds the team's MLS scoring lead with 14 league goals.
• Per José Roberto Nuñez on Twitter, the Union currently lead MLS with 58 "big chances missed," as defined by FotMob. For the sake of comparison, New York City ranks ninth with 46, so both teams don't do too well with converting big chances.
• The Union are in a three-way tie for the most away goals scored in MLS league matches this season with 27, though they're a more pedestrian 12th in points gained per away match, 1.21 across 14 road games.
• The latest edition of Oppo Research with Joe Lister of Philadelphia Soccer Now will catch you up on even more of the goings-on with the Union as they try to chase down a spot in the MLS Cup Playoffs.

Oppo Research: 5 Things about Philadelphia Union

Joe Lister of Philadelphia Soccer Now tells us why the Union continue to stumble and why the attacking duo of Tai Baribo and Mikael Uhre still could pose a threat.

Hudson River BlueMatthew Mangam