New York City FC have a chance to win back-to-back MLS encounters for the first time since April when they welcome the Vancouver Whitecaps to Yankee Stadium on Saturday.
The Boys in Blue ended a five-match domestic winless run on Wednesday, defeating CF Montreal 2-0, while the Caps won their second successive road fixture in midweek, claiming a 1-0 triumph over the Chicago Fire.
Match preview
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Nick Cushing and the Pigeons got an albatross off their backs earlier this week in perhaps their strongest performance of the season, winning for only the second time in league play since the start of May.
New York City had a relatively young starting 11 against Montreal, whose average age was 24.5, and yet the team looked as poised as we have ever seen this season, giving up just three shots on target while scoring multiple goals in a single match for only the sixth time domestically this year.
There is no time for them to bask in the glory of that victory though, as the 2021 MLS Cup champions have a lot of work to do if they are to climb back into a playoff position, needing to overtake four Eastern Conference clubs to get into ninth, while they only have seven matches left.
That may seem like a lot to overcome at this stage of the campaign, but the margin between themselves and a playoff spot in the East is a mere three points, and NYCFC have the luxury of playing their next four encounters at home.
Defensively, this team seem to be at their best when playing on that narrow field at Yankee Stadium, with three clean sheets in their seven regular season matches played in the Bronx this year, conceding a goal or fewer in five of those encounters.
NYCFC have not come away with three points at Yankee Stadium versus a Western Conference opponent in this competition since claiming a 3-0 triumph over the San Jose Earthquakes in May 2022.
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Vancouver could not seem to buy a road victory for a long time this year, but that has not been the case for them of late, with the Caps winning four of their previous five away contests in all competitions.
Wednesday's victory marked the first time head coach Vanni Sartini had ever won consecutive away matches in MLS play, and another triumph this weekend would mark the first time since 2015 that this club will have won three straight league fixtures away from home.
It was also the first time in over three years since the Whitecaps had claimed three points away from home against an Eastern Conference opponent in this competition (2-0 win over the Fire in 2020), while they have not lost to a side from the opposite conference all season.
Saturday will only be their third-ever visit to the Bronx in the regular season, where the Caps have one loss (3-2 in 2016) and a draw (2-2 in 2018), despite scoring first in both contests.
Consistency had not been one of the strong suits of this club over the past couple of regular seasons, but they have shown a lot of that in recent outings, winning four of their last five MLS affairs, while the Caps have not lost back-to-back league fixtures since the beginning of July.
There is a really good opportunity for this team to climb into a top-four position in the Western Conference and potentially host a playoff game, with Vancouver currently five points above the postseason line, and only three points behind Los Angeles FC for second.
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Team News
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James Sands sat out on Wednesday for NYCFC with a lower-body injury, while Santiago Rodriguez came on as a second-half substitute in place of Richy Ledezma after the Uruguayan was forced out of their match versus FC Cincinnati because of a knock.
Andres Jasson made his first MLS start for the Pigeons since May 27, scoring the winner on a brilliant left-footed effort, Monsef Bakrar netted his first of the regular season and Matt Freese started between the sticks in place of Luis Barraza for his first MLS appearance since June 24, making three saves for his first clean sheet of the domestic campaign.
Andres Cubas is eligible to return to the Caps lineup this weekend after missing the match against Chicago because of a yellow card suspension, Thomas Hasal was unavailable in midweek as he continues to recover from patellar tendinopathy, Luis Martins has a left calf strain and Sergio Cordova came on as a substitute after missing their match against the Portland Timbers due to a right hamstring injury.
Brian White and Ryan Gauld combined for the only Caps goal on Wednesday, with White netting his 10th in league play, putting him three back of Hany Mukhtar and Luciano Acosta in the MLS Golden Boot race, while Yohei Takaoka stopped the three Chicago shots that he faced for his first clean sheet in league play since May 20 (2-0 win over the Seattle Sounders).
New York City FC possible starting lineup:
Freese; Gray, Martins, Risa, Cufre; Parks, Morales; Jasson, Moralez, Fernandez; Bakrar
Vancouver Whitecaps possible starting lineup:
Takaoka; Adekugbe, Veselinovic, Blackmon; Cubas; Laryea, Schopf, Berhalter, Vite; White, Gauld
We say: New York City FC 1-1 Vancouver Whitecaps
Both teams are coming off impressive performances in midweek, with each having plenty to play for at this stage of the campaign.
Overall, Vancouver have been the more consistent of the two, but it seems like the Pigeons' are starting to gel as a unit at a critical juncture, so we expect a stalemate from two sides in high spirits.
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Top tip
Joel Lefevre
