Seeking their first away victory of the 2025 MLS campaign, the New York Red Bulls visit Audi Field on Saturday for a match against DC United.
Once again, the Black and Red could only manage a 0-0 draw over the weekend versus Nashville SC, putting them 12th in the table, while the Red Bulls were beaten 2-0 by New York City FC, and are now a point below the Eastern Conference playoff line.
Match preview
It was yet another match where DC were all but invisible in the attacking third last Saturday, as they fired just a single effort on target against Nashville.
Troy Lesesne's men have gone goalless in three straight MLS affairs, their longest stretch without a goal in this competition since 2023 (five games).
On the positive side, though, they have gone back-to-back games without conceding, while posting three clean sheets in their previous four competitive fixtures.
At the same time, they are unbeaten in their last three home matches across all competitions, and have points in five of their seven regular season contests played at Audi Field.
Those are two encouraging signs given that they have allowed the second-most goals in the league so far this year (25), with only the Los Angeles Galaxy giving up more (33).
The Black and Red are undefeated in MLS this year when leading after 45 minutes, though that has only happened on three occasions.
A convincing 7-0 victory over the Galaxy earlier this month appears to have been nothing but a short-term positive for last season's MLS Cup runners-up.
Sandro Schwarz's side have followed up that win with back-to-back defeats in this competition, and just one goal scored over that stretch.
They have had over 55% possession in their last two league games but failed to do anything with it, firing a combined three efforts on target in those fixtures, including just one versus NYCFC.
Schwarz is in danger of losing three successive league contests for the first time since taking charge ahead of the 2024 campaign, which would equal their longest losing run since 2023 (three matches).
New York have won four times this year in league play when leading at the half but have collected just one point when behind after 45 minutes.
Although they lost the previous match against DC this season (2-1), the Red Bulls have points in four consecutive visits to Audi Field across all competitions, winning three of those outings.
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Team News
Last season's Golden Boot winner, Christian Benteke, sat out of DC's match with Nashville due to an ankle issue, which also kept Kristian Fletcher on the sidelines, while Gabriel Pirani did not feature because of a sore knee.
Meanwhile, thigh injuries meant that Lukas MacNaughton and Dominique Badji were unavailable to the Black and Red last Saturday.
Luis Barraza recorded his second clean sheet of the MLS campaign the last time out, Rida Zouhir made his first start of the campaign and Jackson Hopkins started a match for the first time since June 2024.
The Red Bulls were missing Serge Ngoma and Marcelo Morales last weekend due to thigh strains, while knee injuries kept Lewis Morgan and Roald Mitchell off the field once again.
A sore hamstring prevented Dylan Nealis from playing, an injury that has plagued the Red Bulls defender throughout the 2025 campaign.
Noah Eile was given another caution on Saturday and therefore will have to sit out of this match due to yellow card accumulation.
DC United possible starting lineup:
Barraza; Herrera, Bartlett, Rowles, Schnegg; Servania, Peltola; Kijima, J. Stroud, Peglow; Leal
New York Red Bulls possible starting lineup:
Coronel; Duncan, S. Nealis, Parker, Edwards; Carballo, P. Stroud; Carmona, Forsberg, Sofo; Choupo-Moting
We say: DC United 1-1 New York Red Bulls
Both sides have been disappointing over the past couple of weeks, and we believe DC and the Red Bulls will be more eager to collect a point than win given the struggles of each.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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