New York Red Bulls v New York City: Schwarz relishing pressure of must-win derby

Sandro Schwarz insisted the pressure of their Hudson River derby against New York City FC is crucial for his New York Red Bulls players. 

The Red Bulls welcome their city rivals to Sports Illustrated Stadium this weekend, knowing a defeat could be a potentially damaging one in terms of reaching the playoffs. 

Schwarz's side find themselves 10th in the Eastern Conference, two points adrift of Chicago Fire in the final postseason spot, while also boasting a game in hand. 

The Red Bulls know the importance of a win here, though Schwarz said the pressure that comes with facing NYCFC must be managed in the right way on the field. 

"Pressure is necessary when you want to bring your best performance on the pitch," he said. "That is when you need pressure. I have experienced that as a coach. 

"But we have to find the right balance to handle this pressure. That's very important. I am not talking about the situation surrounding the playoffs, I am talking about the derby. 

"In our pre-match talk, we will speak about the bigger picture as a derby and how we want to play from the mental side. It is not the topic of every minute of every day. 

"I, however, feel it every second about this game on Saturday. But it doesn't mean that I then talk about it all the time."

NYCFC, meanwhile, have already booked their place in the playoffs, though will be aiming to respond here following their midweek humbling by Inter Miami. 

Pascal Jansen's team were thrashed 4-0 by the Herons, with Lionel Messi scoring twice and assisting one more, while Luis Suarez also got on the scoresheet with a penalty. 

It marked the Pigeons' first regular-season defeat in three matches, and Jansen is hoping his team have learnt from their defensive lapses against Javier Mascherano's side. 

"We were looking for that equaliser, but in the last 20 minutes when the goals fell. You could also see in the first half, we got punished for one minor mistake," Jansen said. 

"That is when they made it 1-0. It was a loss of possession, and it was so open in the middle. They punished us for that and, then, we found ourselves in similar situations. 

"That is what I said to my boys. When you play against a team like this, those errors are punished by a side with lots of quality, like Miami."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

New York Red Bulls – Eric Choupo-Moting

Choupo-Moting notched his 16th regular-season goal of 2025 last time out, becoming the first Red Bulls player to hit that mark since Bradley Wright-Phillips in 2018 (20 goals).

He is also one of 12 MLS players with more than 15 goals in 2025, the most in a single regular season in MLS history, and he will be keen to have an impact here.

New York City – Nicolas Fernandez

Fernandez was the only NYCFC player with multiple shots on Wednesday as he finished with two, though none of them were on target.

New York finished with nine shots in total, tied for their fewest in any of their 21 MLS matches since the beginning of May.

MATCH PREDICTION: NEW YORK RED BULLS WIN

NYCFC has won three straight regular-season matches against NYRB, their longest such winning streak in the fixture.

The only longer regular-season winning streak by either team in the matchup was when the Red Bulls won the first four MLS meetings between the clubs.

But Schwarz's team come into the game following a 2-0 win over Montreal, and the club are unbeaten when scoring multiple goals in league play this season (won 10, drawn two).

The only other MLS teams unbeaten when scoring two or more goals this season are the Houston Dynamo and Philadelphia Union.

NYCFC, though, were thumped 4-0 by Inter Miami, their largest margin in a shutout loss in an MLS match since losing by the same scoreline at Toronto FC in March 2019.

The Pigeons have lost consecutive MLS matches just once this season, losing to Atlanta United and Minnesota United between March and April.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

New York Red Bulls – 45.6%

Draw – 26.8%

New York City – 27.6%