The day has arrived.

Almost two years ago, on May 21st of 2013, NYCFC was announced to the public as MLS’ newest franchise. At that point in time, every person had their own speculations of what this team would become, and finally on Sunday at 5pm (ESPN 2/WatchESPN) NYCFC will play their first ever home game at the historic, albeit problematic, Yankee Stadium.

Form

New England recently lost their season opener by being completely outplayed by the Seattle Sounders, with the explosive tandem of Dempsey and Obafemi Martins inflicting a 3 nil defeat upon the Revolution. The Revolution, after acquiring Jermaine Jones in the summer, stormed their way to the MLS Cup final only to be defeated by the LA Galaxy. Two key players for that run were Lee Nguyen and Jermaine Jones, Nguyen only recently returning from injury while Jones remains sidelined for another month after undergoing hernia surgery. New England will hope to rebound from their poor display in Seattle, but without their two best players fully fit that feat may become very difficult.

NYCFC managed to win a hard-earned point down in Orlando last weekend, but didn’t play particularly well. This is to be expected from a team that has never played a competitive match in their history. They will come into this game with home advantage, but the chemistry and understanding the players have between each other is far weaker than that of New England. That is not to say NYC can’t or won’t win, though. David Villa will need to put on a more convincing performance than he did against Orlando, but NYCFC’s best hope comes in the form of Norwegian-American Mix Diskerud, who’s glorious curling effort was nominated for goal of the week.  NYCFC will hope that these two players can light up Yankee Stadium and give their first home crowd a night to remember.

Predicted Lineups

New England (4-2-3-1): Shuttleworth (GK), Alston (RB), Gonçalves (CB), Farrel (CB), Tierney (LB), Dorman (CM), Caldwell (CM), Nguyen (CAM), Fagundez (LM), Rowe (RM), Agudelo (ST)

-Starting winger Teal Bunbury came off injured last week with what appeared to be a fairly serious shoulder injury.

-Nguyen was back in training this week and could start, or perhaps come off the bench.

-Striker Charlie Davies could be given a start after a mediocre return to MLS from Agudelo, but head coach Jay Heaps could give Agudelo another chance to get acclimated with his teammates and hopefully get back into form.

NYC (4-4-2): Saunders (GK), Williams (RB), Hernandez (CB), Wingert (CB), Brovsky (LB), Jacobson (CM), Diskerud (CM), Grabavoy (LM), Shelton (RM), Villa (ST), Nemec (ST)

-It’s likely Kreis will keep his back line the same as he hopes to build chemistry between his defenders, despite players such as Watson-Siriboe and Mendoza vying for a starting berth.

-We’ve selected Khiry Shelton to start over Ballouchy at right midfield. It’s possible Kreis will partner Shelton with Villa up top and drop Nemec, or not start Shelton at all. Ballouchy was largely anonymous against Orlando and Shelton brought an infectious energy which seemed to spurn the team on towards Mix’s opener. If Kreis decides to keep Shelton out of the starting XI, expect the 21 year-old striker to be the first man off the bench.

Final Thoughts

Both these teams will be desperate for a win in their second MLS game of the season. It will be fascinating to see how NYC competes against a fully established MLS franchise, rather than playing against another expansion club. Tune in this Sunday at 5pm to find out.