New York City FC is back in the Bronx on Saturday with a quick turnaround to welcome the San Jose Earthquakes.
Here are Keys to the Match, presented by Tri-State Ford…
Remain Unbeaten
NYCFC remains unbeaten through six games, and on Saturday they will look to make it seven.
With San Jose’s arrival, City will look to pick up all three points to create some distance between the no.1 and no.2 teams on the table.
New York had played the least amount of games in the conference for the middle third of the season, but now the games have been made up and the points have been accumulated, it’s City occupying the top spot.
The team looks to stay unbeaten through the end of the regular season to solidify their place on the table and earn home-field advantage for the postseason.
Back from the Break
When the call came, Alex Callens, Maxime Chanot, Justin Haak, Sean Johnson, Tony Rocha, and Ronald Matarrita answered.
With six NYCFC players reporting to international team duty, Dome Torrent had to make some changes to his Starting XI to get through the last two matches.
Luckily for him, the depth of the team allowed City to continue to play beautiful football and rack up points but now Torrent will have real decisions to make when selecting his XI.
With Callens, Chanot and Haak all returning on Saturday, look out for that starting lineup at approximately 11:30am.
Spidey
Our Argentine maestro Maxi Moralez leads the league with 18 assists and has created 86 chances so far in Season 5 but he’s listed as “questionable” for this one and may miss a second consecutive game.
Maxi missed Toronto through suspension and hamstring discomfort may keep him out vs. San Jose, meaning someone else must step up in his absence.
Who’ll be picked to the spin the webs in Spidey’s absence? Dome does have some good options, especially with Ismael Tajouri-Shradi returning from injury, so it’s the “next man up” mentality which will carry us once more.
Head-to-Head
NYCFC is undefeated in the previous four meetings against the Earthquakes.
With three wins and one draw in that time and with both wins in the BX, City will hope to keep up those historic precedents on Saturday.
San Jose have lost their last four road games but will be eager to put that right on Saturday, so it will not be easy.
Our House
The Bronx is our house and we are going to defend it.
NYCFC has remained unbeaten through 14 games with only a single loss at home this season.
It’s no secret that Yankee Stadium is a difficult place to play because our fans show up and show out.
Representing this club with pride and cheering on New York City’s Football Club through the night.
There are only two home games left in the regular season so come on out to the Bronx, #ForTheCity.
