• Matchday 8: New York City FC vs Philadelphia Union
• Date and Time: Saturday, April 12, 7:40 pm ET
• Venue: Citi Field, Queens, NY
• Forecast: Dry but cold and breezy, 42 F/5 C
• Watch: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV
• Apple Broadcast Team: Steve Cangialosi and Danny Higginbotham (English), Alejandro Figueredo and Tony Cherchi (Spanish)
• New York City FC Radio: Glenn Crooks and Matty Lawrence (English), Roberto Abramowitz and Ariel Judas (Spanish)
• Officiating Crew: Guido Gonzales Jr. (referee), Brooke Mayo and Kathryn Nesbitt (assistant referees), Joshua Encarnacion (fourth official), Geoff Gamble (VAR), Joshua Patlak (assistant VAR)
• Kits: New York City will again wear the light blue Excelsior Kit; Philadelphia will wear the dark blue XV Kit
It's Matchday 8 and New York City FC are in Queens for the first time this year, where they host a Philadelphia Union team running hot and cold — and one that just shipped Dániel Gazdag, one of the best No 10s in Major League Soccer, to Eastern Conference rivals Columbus Crew.
New York City will be trying to put a stop to a modest two-match losing streak following last weekend's home defeat against Minnesota, a match in which they trailed from the second minute on.
Now NYCFC faces the high-pressure, high-intensity style of Philadelphia under new coach Bradley Carnell, the former St. Louis City SC head coach and former New York Red Bull assistant. New York City-Philadelphia is a rivalry game on its own terms, but it might also slightly resemble a Hudson River Derby given Carnell's background and preferred play style.
New York City vs Philadelphia Union H2H
| GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 | 11 | 2 | 11 | 35 | 38 | -3 |
New York City's historic command of Philadelphia has been reversed by the Union's rise in recent years — and their utter domination of NYCFC. Philly own a record of 6W-0D-1L since New York City beat them in the 2021 Eastern Conference Final, with 18 goals scored and just 7 goals allowed.
New York City's sole win in that run of games came last May at Subaru Park, when Hannes Wolf scored a wonder-strike and Raquinho stole the show. The good feels from that result were utterly destroyed in the return fixture when a severely depleted Union beat New York City 5-1 at Yankee Stadium, handing the home team their third-worst defeat in club history.
Philadelphia faced New York City at Citi Field just once before, the visitors winning 3-1 on May 27, 2023. That 2023 win is part of a four-match unbeaten run by the Union when playing NYCFC away. The last time New York City won a regular-season home match vs Philadelphia was back on June 29, 2019, at Yankee Stadium when Maxi Moralez had four goal contributions (two goals, two assists) and Taty Castellanos added a brace of his own against then-Union goalkeeper...Matt Freese.
New York City Scouting Report
• Player Availability: Malachi Jones (leg) and Jacob Arroyave (knee) are out.
• Andrés Perea isn't appearing on the injury report for the first time since his hip injury. He last played on Matchday 2 at LAFC, entering in the second half for a 30-minute appearance as a substitute.
• With Nico Cavallo also removed from the injury report, Pascal Jansen could have his most complete bench in weeks. Jansen makes an average of four substitutions per game but he's also had to make his subs earlier than other coaches in MLS due to injuries or, like against Minnesota, due to his team needing a wake-up. NYCFC has the highest average minutes played per substitution in MLS (27 minutes, tied with Inter Miami CF).
• How will the defense look in front of Matt Freese? Jansen removed Birk Risa at 40 minutes last match and the team looked good while playing in a back-three while chasing the game down two goals. If Risa is in the dog house, there's Strahinja Tanasijević, or there's another opportunity for Justin Haak to slide over to center-back against Philadelphia, something the defensive midfielder famously did for one of the first times in his career during the 2022 Eastern Conference Final at Subaru Park.
• If there's another penalty kick opportunity against the Union, will Alonso Martínez be the one to step to the spot and take it? He had a costly miss vs. Minnesota and the role is at least somewhat unsettled with regular penalty taker Santiago Rodríguez sold to Botafogo.
• New York City has had the second-most attempted passes blocked by opponents this season in MLS, their 76 blocked passes ranking only behind Philadelphia's 86 blocked passes. Expect to see defenders breaking up the passing lanes at Citi Field.
• For everything you want to know about the Union, head over to our latest Oppo Research. In it, our Matthew Mangam talks with Matt Ralph of Philadelphia Soccer Now about Philadelphia's hot start, Tai Baribo's great goal-scoring form, key injury concerns, roster changes, and more.
Matthew Mangam
