NYCFC vs New York Red Bulls: How to watch, time, and more of Conference Semifinals

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FanSided MLS

·22 November 2024

NYCFC vs New York Red Bulls: How to watch, time, and more of Conference Semifinals

New York City FC finished the year in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, and the New York Red Bulls finished in seventh. Not many would have thought there would be a chance for the rivals to play one another in the playoffs based on where they finished and the fact they were the lower seeds in their Round One Best-of-3 series. However, NYCFC beat FC Cincinnati via a penalty kick shootout, and RBNY won their series against the Columbus Crew.

As a result, the teams will play the first-ever Hudson River Derby in the MLS Cup Playoffs. NYCFC will try to repeat their recent derby performance, for the Pigeons won 5-1 at Red Bull Arena. The New Jersey side will want revenge. Therefore, fans expect this to be a highly contested battle and a fantastic Conference Semifinal matchup.

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This time around, the teams will play in Queens. Originally, there was an attendance cap of 22,500. Thankfully, the front office was able to increase the cap to a little over 25,000. This is still not ideal, but at least the New York Mets agreed to open up more seating. There is no question that supporters of both teams would be out in full force. If there was no cap, then it is extremely possible the baseball stadium would have had 30,000 or more.

More importantly, NYCFC enters the game predominantly healthy. The only player who is missing is Malachi Jones. The rookie continues to recover from his leg injury. However, that means Nick Cushing has plenty of players to choose from for the Starting XI. Still, hopefully, his best players will start the match.