New York Red Bulls vs Charlotte

Red Bull Arena in Harrison sets the stage for a Major League Soccer Eastern Conference top-six six-pointer between New York Red Bulls and Charlotte.

NY Red Bulls have performed in patches since the start of the season but still accrued 23 points from 14 rounds to break into the top five in the Eastern Conference. But consistency remains an issue, with the hosts registering partial success across their last four MLS fixtures (W2, L2) since a 1-1 home draw against Vancouver Whitecaps in late April. Connoisseurs of action-packed football have enjoyed NY’s recent matches, with their last four featuring over 2.5 goals and both teams scoring, averaging 5.5 goals per game. Another high-scoring contest could be in store as their last two MLS meetings with Charlotte have seen both teams score at least twice, including a thumping 5-2 win in their most recent H2H at this venue.

As for Charlotte, back-to-back scoreless draws against Philadelphia Union and LA Galaxy have extended their unbeaten league run to five games (W3, D2), steering them to 7th in the Eastern Conference. Those stalemates upheld Charlotte’s reputation as ‘buzz killers.’ Their last four MLS matches have seen one or both sides fail to score in games garnering under 1.5 goals. The Crown wouldn’t mind another low-scoring affair, not least because of their dreadful league record away from home (W1, D1, L4), accompanied by a meager average of just 0.66 goals scored per game. Even though they’ve struggled in front of goal, they’ve got on the scoresheet on three of their last four MLS travels.