​New York City v New York Red Bulls: Jansen unfazed by goal drought ahead of derby

Pascal Jansen is not worried about New York City’s recent goalless run ahead of Saturday’s Hudson River Derby against the New York Red Bulls.

Indeed, he believes it is only a matter of time before they convert their chances into goals, having failed to score in their last three outings in all competitions – against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds (0-1), CF Montreal (0-1) and D.C. United (0-0).

NYCFC have only scored 13 times from a total of 18.79 expected goals (xG) in MLS this campaign.

Only Austin FC (16.94 xG, nine goals) and Montreal (13.18 xG, seven goals) have underperformed their underlying attacking metrics by a greater margin.

“I’m not worried at all,” Jansen said. “If you look at our games, all 13 have been very close, very tight.

“In quite a few games, we had possibilities to get the advantage. I’ll start to worry when we don’t get into these areas and spaces. We know we have to be more clinical and that’s what we’re going to focus on.

“It doesn’t worry me at all because I know that the guys are able to create these chances, and it’s a matter of time before they start to convert them into goals.”

While NYCFC are ninth in the Eastern Conference with 18 points, the Red Bulls are above them on goal difference in eighth, both currently occupying the play-in places.

They lost 2-1 at Nashville SC last time out, leading to criticism from head coach Sandro Schwarz, who said: “What we need is 100% intensity in our basic behaviour.

“We have to analyse directly – we don’t have so much time for Saturday. The biggest difference is that we need these clear directions to the goal.”

PLAYERS TO WATCH

New York City – Alonso Martinez

New York City have failed to score in their last three games in all competitions.

They need leading goalscorer Martinez, who has netted six times this season but has underperformed his xG total of 8.65, to step up.

New York Red Bulls – Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting

Though the Red Bulls were beaten 2-1 at Nashville last time out, Choupo-Moting scored his seventh league goal of the season.

Only Tai Baribo (10 goals), Cristian Arango (nine), Martin Ojeda, Hugo Cuypers and Brian White (eight each) have outscored the former Bayern Munich man in MLS this year.

MATCH PREDICTION – NEW YORK CITY WIN

NYCFC have only lost one of these rivals’ last four meetings in MLS dating back to May 2023 (two wins, one draw).

However, that one defeat did come in the Eastern Conference semifinals last November, with Felipe Carballo and Dante Vanzeir scoring inside the first 25 minutes of a 2-0 Red Bulls win.

Though NYCFC went down to Montreal on home soil last week, they had beaten the Philadelphia Union and FC Cincinnati – the top two teams in the East – in their previous two league matches at Citi Field.

The Red Bulls, meanwhile, have only taken two points from six road games in 2025 (two draws, four defeats) – the t-fewest of any team in the East.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

New York City – 42.3%

New York Red Bulls – 31%

Draw – 26.7%