Ah, the day is upon us. With all the twitter competitions, the meaningless press conferences, and the overrated blogs, it’s easy to forget that this whole schpiel is about a 90 minute footie match. And how enticing this footie match is indeed.

Form

If you had told me that coming into this match NYCFC would be in far better form I’d probably chloroform you, squeeze your body into the back of my trunk, drop you off at the nearest sanatarium and think nothing of it.

But somehow NYCFC have won 3 MLS matches in a row while Red Bulls were winless in 5 consecutive matches before their scrappy 1 nil midweek home win versus RSL. The Red Bulls even lost, AT HOME, to the Philadelphia Union. Not even NYC have lost to the Union at home, and we’ve sucked for most of this season.

In fact, the Red Bulls’ hot streak ended just after beating us 2-1 in Harrison. Weird vibes, man.

Point is, the Red Bulls haven’t played particularly well the past few games and NYC have exceeded prior expectations, occasionally playing quality football. Going into this game at home in the Bronx, this is a pretty good scenario to have.

Lineups

Red Bulls (4-2-3-1): Robles (GK), Duvall (RB), Miazga (CB), Perrinelle (CB), Lawrence (LB), McCarty (CM), Felipe (CM), Zizzo (LM), Kljestan (CAM), Grella (RM), Wright-Phillips (ST)

-Kljestan is back from serving his suspension and should slot into his preferred role right under the striker.

-Lloyd Sam might make it to the bench, but probably still needs another week to recover from his groin injury.

NYC (4-5-1): Saunders (GK), RJ Allen (RB), Facey (CB), Hernandez (CB), Wingert (LB), McNamara (LM), Grabavoy (CM), Jacobson (CM), Mix (CM), Ballouchy (RM), Villa (ST)

-As per usual, we’d love to see Poku instead of Grabavoy. Last time out Kreis opted for Grabavoy, as Poku had played a full match in midweek. That choice ostensibly payed dividends, as NYC won in Toronto. Although Grabavoy had little to do with that win, he will be trusted in this derby match because of his “MLS experience.”

-As with last game, one of Calle or Williams should make the bench. Shelton is recovering well from a left knee sprain, but if he features at all it would be coming off the bench.

Final Thoughts

With a crowd of at least 45,000 people, it’s hard not to be excited for tomorrow’s derby.

One thing to keep in mind is that while form certainly is influential, often what makes derby matches so great is the fact that both teams want to win this game so much more than other regular league games. When this happens, the play from both sides improves and the game becomes impossible to call. Each team puts forth an inspired performance to match the other and we often see some of footie’s finest moments.

Yet, this isn’t a traditional rivalry as of yet. Sure the first game was heated, but right now the fans of the opposition teams are the ones who are making this a “derby” match. Most of the players are using the “oh-it’s-just-another-3-points” PR tactic.

But soccer players are rarely the best speakers, we’ll see on the pitch how both sides feel about this matchup.

Until then, Death To The Red Bulls.