It's Matchday 16, and New York City are hosting San Jose Earthquakes at Yankee Soccer Stadium in a rare Friday night game.
New York City are riding a four-game winning streak that includes tough away matches against Toronto FC, Philadelphia Union, and New England Revolution, with a home win over New York Red Bulls thrown in for good measure. NYCFC have taken 12 out of a possible 15 points in their last five games, which puts the club's form at the very top of the league — they're even with FC Cincinnati and LAFC, and ahead of Conference leaders Inter Miami and Real Salt Lake.
In fact, the current four-game winning streak is tied for the second-best in club history. One more victory and this team will match the New York City record of five consecutive wins set back in 2019.
• Matchday 16: New York City FC vs San Jose Earthquakes
• Date and Time: Friday, May 31, 7:30 pm ET
• Venue: Yankee Soccer Stadium
• Forecast: A crisp, breezy last spring day, 72F/22C
• Watch: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV
• Apple Broadcast Team: Nate Bukaty and Devon Kerr (English), Sergio Ruiz and Walter Roque (Spanish)
• New York City FC Radio: Glenn Crooks and Matty Lawrence (English), Roberto Abramowitz and Ariel Judas (Spanish)
• Officiating Crew: Mark Allatin (referee), Jeremy Kieso and Adam Wienckowski (assistant referees), Pierre-Luc Lauziere (fourth official), Daniel Radford (VAR), Peter Balciunas (assistant VAR)
• Kits: New York City will be in their black "24/7 Kit," which they last wore during their April 20 win over DC United; San Jose will be in "The 50 Kit," which is white with red and black accents.
Like New York City, San Jose sat out the midweek games on Wednesday. Last Saturday, the Earthquakes managed a 1-1 draw with Austin FC at home that saw them climb out of the Western Conference basement and into 13th place.
The Earthquakes have just 11 points after 15 games, and allowed a league-worst 34 goals. But they beat Colorado on the road, and LAFC and Seattle Sounders at home — any team with striker Jeremy Ebobisse spearheading the attack is capable of earning a result.
New York City vs San Jose H2H
| GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 5 | 7 |
The head-to-head between these two clubs is short and sweet, at least if you support New York City: San Jose have never beaten NYCFC.
San Jose's sole point earned against New York City came way back in 2016, when they played to a scoreless draw in California at what was then known as Avaya Stadium. These teams last faced each other in 2022 when New York City left it late and scored in the 74th, 78th, and 88th minute to end the day with a 3-0 win in the Bronx.
New York City FC
• Player Availability: Rio Hope-Gund is still out recovering from injury, but significantly, Maxi Moralez is not listed as "Out" for the first time this season.
• Could the Argentine playmaker return to the Yankee Soccer Stadium pitch for the first time since tearing his ACL on it last August?
Random, likely irrelevant fact: Keaton Parks has scored for @newyorkcityfc in both home meetings w/ San Jose since joining team. In 2019, scored first MLS goal as part of come-from-behind 2-1 win; in 2022, opened the scoring in a 3-0 win. If he does it again, officially a trend
— Hudson River Blue (@hudsonriverblue) May 30, 2024
• One thing for sure, Matt Freese will start in goal. The shot-stopper is one of the key players behind New York City's near-historic run of form, and is establishing himself as one of the elite goalkeepers in MLS.
Andrew Leigh
Matthew Mangam
San Jose Earthquakes
• Player Availability: Goalkeeper Daniel (hamstring), winger Benjamin Kikanovic (hip), goalkeeper James Marcinkowski (ACL), and defender Jamar Ricketts (hip) are unavailable. In addition, right-back Carlos Akapo and left-back Vitor Costa are both suspended due to yellow card accumulation.
• The San Jose defense is leaky even when at full strength. As we mentioned in the introduction, the team have allowed a league-high 34 goals. So it follows that goalkeeper William Yarborough conceded a league-worst 2.3 goals per 90 mins.
• But Cristian Espinoza is a bright spot on the roster, as the creative midfielder can control the game. Forward Amahl Pellegrino has four goals this season, the same as striker Ebobisse.
• Want to learn more about this San Jose squad? Hudson River Blue's Matthew Mangam spoke with Jamon Moore of Quakes Epicenter for the latest edition of Oppo Research.
Matthew Mangam
