Head Coach Patrick Vieira will have at least one change to make to his season-opener winning XI.
Maxime Chanot will miss the Home Opener vs. LA Galaxy through suspension following his late red card in the 2-0 victory over Sporting KC last Sunday but new signing Sebastien Ibeagha is ready to answer if called.
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Ibeagha is one of a number of options Head Coach Patrick Vieira will be pondering as City prepare for their long-awaited return to the Bronx.
Joining from USL affiliate team San Antonio in the offseason, Sebastien has settled seamlessly into the squad and is enjoying life in his new surrounds.
He told NYCFC.com: “Everyone is ready – anyone who Patrick puts in there is ready to give it their best. That’s the kind of group we’ve got here, everybody can step in and do their jobs – that’s how it is, we’re ready, regardless of who comes in.
“I’m really excited, I’ve heard really good things about the atmosphere and the stadium and it’s going to be rocking because it’s our Home Opener.
“Even though I came in on the road on preseason, Patrick and the coaching staff were really great with me. It’s been a really comfortable transition from San Antonio and USL to here.
“We’re really excited to play on that field and to see the fans on Sunday.”
NYCFC are facing down a familiar opponent in the shape of LA Galaxy with the league’s hottest start on the line.
Like Vieira, Sigi Schmid has strengthened his squad heavily in the offseason and possesses a number of new attacking weapons who could cause Ibeagha and his teammates problems on Sunday evening.
However, the Boys in Blue have had exposure to these new faces in a preseason game that proved to be an unusual evening at the StubHub Center.
A first half red card for Ronald Matarrita distorted the scoreline in LA’s favor as City went down 3-0 but Sebastien believes that experience will help NYCFC in this more important clash.
“They’re a really good team, especially their front four or five and the way they possess the ball in the opposition half,” Ibeagha said, “We have to keep the key in all their guys, they like to make darting runs and we’ve got to keep our eye on that.
“That friendly gave us an insight which is really nice going into this first home game. It was a strange game with ten men for more than half the game but we fought hard and had some good moments, so we’ll learn from that and bring that insight into this one.”
This will be Sebastien’s first experience of Yankee Stadium on gameday and he’s counting down the hours until this first taste of the Bronx.
He added: “People underestimate how big of a part fans make to the team – that connection lifts players and we count on them like they count on us.”
