D.C. United and the New York Red Bulls are facing off in the final regular season clash of the Atlantic Cup. The Red Bulls won the first tilt in at Red Bull Arena 2-0, while United played them to a 2-2 draw in the District. The Black-and-Red will need a tremendous effort to capture the hardware for a second straight season.
The Red Bulls enter Sunday’s match on a scorching hot streak, going 5-1-1 in their last seven MLS contests while outscoring opponents 17-6. New York’s hot streak met some serious fire when they dropped a 3-2 contest to Chicago, ending a six-match unbeaten run.
This marquee Rivalry Week matchup is airing on Fox Sports 1, and that may leave United fans wishing for a channel change. The Black-and-Red have fared poorly when playing on the network, going 0-2-0 in games aired on FS1. Meanwhile, their Atlantic Cup counterparts have gone 2-1-1 in contests aired on the network. United will be looking to reverse that trend Sunday.
An Eye on the Stats
Chris Rolfe is enjoying quite the year, leading the team with 9 goals, tying his career-best from 2008. Bradley Wright-Phillips is on 11 for the year, and Sacha Kljestan leads the Red Bulls with 8 assists in his first season back in MLS since 2010.
Taylor Kemp, meanwhile, is tied for the team lead with five assists, and who can forget that stunning strike against Real Salt Lake for good measure?
Masters of the House
While United need to produce a big win to capture the Cup, they couldn’t pick a more difficult place to try and do it. The Red Bulls have been extremely solid at defending their home turf, going 7-2-2 in games in NYC this season with a plus-11 goal differential. Meanwhile, United have struggled outside of RFK, going 4-7-2 with a minus-5 differential.
The Red Bulls will be honoring former MetroStars standout Tab Ramos before Sunday’s game. In the nascent days of the Atlantic Cup rivalry, Ramos notched one of his eight career goals and six of his 36 career assists against the Black and Red.
Be sure to tune in to Fox Sports 1, and follow along on social media as this regular-season clash between the oldest rivalry in MLS gets underway Sunday at 7 PM.
