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New York City FC will face rival Red Bulls in the sixth derby match between the sides Sunday at 1 p.m. at Red Bull Arena.
With five wins in their last six games, NYCFC sits atop the Eastern Conference with 33 points, five clear of the third place Red Bulls.
NYCFC (9-6-6) is coming off a massive 3-1 win over the Montreal Impact last Sunday, their league-leading sixth road win of the season. David Villa scored his league-best 13th goal of the year, Jack Harrison scored a wonder goal in first-half stoppage time and Frank Lampard netted his fifth goal in six games late to cap the victory.
Tommy McNamara had a pair of assists and now has eight on the season, third best in MLS.
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The Red Bulls (8-9-4) have won once in their last six games and played the Philadelphia Union to a 2-2 draw Sunday in Chester, PA. Sacha Kljestan, who leads MLS with 10 assists, struck for a first-half brace, but C.J. Sapong and Chris Pontius scored one minute apart in the second half as the Union rallied for a share of the points.
While the Red Bulls have struggled away from home, they are 7-2-1 at Red Bull Arena and NYCFC coach Patrick Vieira knows coming away with another three road points will be difficult.
“We will go to the game with humility like always,” Vieira said. “We’re going to go there knowing that it will be a difficult place to go, to dictate the game and try to play. We know what to expect from there. We will have to go there and be brave and play the way we played in the last few weeks and the last few months.”
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The teams have split a pair of meetings this season, both at Yankee Stadium. In the last encounter, NYCFC picked up its first-ever win over the Red Bulls with Harrison and Villa scoring a goal in each half on July 3.
“At the end of the day, its just another game,” Harrison said. “But its an important one for us to stay on top of the league and its an important one for New York.”
