• Matchday 26: New York City FC vs Red Bull New York
• Date and Kickoff Time: Friday, September 18, 7:40 pm ET
• Venue: Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY
• Forecast: Cooling down after a humid day, 76F/24C
• Watch: Apple TV
• Apple Broadcast Team: Callum Williams and Calen Carr (English); Alejandro Figueredo and Tony Cherchi (Spanish)
• New York City FC Radio: Glenn Crooks and Matt Lawrence (English), Roberto Abramowitz and Ariel Judas (Spanish)
• Officiating Crew: Jon Freemon (referee), Kyle Atkins and Chris Elliott (assistant referees), JC Griggs (fourth official), Edvin Jurisevic (VAR), Jonathan Johnson (assistant VAR)
• Kits: New York City will be in the sky-blue Excelsior Kit; Red Bulls in the red-and-black Rooted Kit
New York City FC and Red Bull New York bring the Hudson River Derby back to Yankee Stadium for the first time since 2023, in what might be the final one of these derbies ever played in the Bronx — unclear what the 2027 sprint season holds for this rivalry.
This is also New York City FC's last scheduled match at Yankee Stadium in 2026, with the club's final three home games now set to be played across town at Citi Field. So this could be the team's final act of 2026 in the Bronx, and it's a 12th all-time visit made to Yankee Stadium by their cross-river rivals.
These matches have tended to be the most anticipated and best-attended home games played by New York City in a given season, at least until Inter Miami CF signed Messi. Four of the 10 highest-attended NYCFC matches in history have been Hudson River Derbies played at Yankee Stadium, with the first one of these in the Bronx, on June 28, 2015, still standing as the most-attended NYCFC home game: 48,047 was the announced crowd for that inaugural New York City FC-hosted derby.
This will be a rare Friday night meeting between these teams, the second time that's been the day of choice for the derby, and the first one that there's been since August 2017 when they played to a 1-1 draw on a Friday evening at Red Bull Arena.
This rivalry is in a weird spot, as neither team is at its best and both teams run the risk of missing out on the MLS Cup Playoffs, should results not go their way over the remaining nine matches of the regular season. The Red Bulls have more on the line, given they haven't beaten NYCFC in any of the last seven regular-season meetings going back to 2023, and since they're two points behind NYCFC in the standings and currently outside the playoff places in the Eastern Conference.
It's always a high-stakes affair when these teams play, but this one feels extra important, what with each team just removed from prolonged winless streaks and desperate for something positive to spur them towards an end-of-season run into the playoffs.
Matthew Mangam
New York City FC H2H Record vs Red Bull New York
| G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 34 | 13 | 5 | 16 | 41 | 53 | -12 |
The recent head-to-head results have skewed much more in New York City's direction, what with that seven-match unbeaten run across the latest MLS regular season meetings.
That's including the first two meetings in Harrison, New Jersey, this season, when NYCFC won 3-1 in the US Open Cup Round of 16 on a trio of nearly identical goals off corner kicks, all assisted by Maxi Moralez. A few weeks later, the teams played to a 1-1 draw in the first regular season meeting, with Andrés Perea scoring his third career goal for NYCFC against the Red Bulls, and with Maxi Moralez tearing his ACL and being lost for the season.
