After coming off the bench against Montreal, Yangel Herrera returns to NYCFC's starting lineup for the first time since suffering his injury on international duty with Venezuela. David Villa also slots back into the starting XI for tonight's match against the Chicago Fire after entering as a substitute against Montreal.
Patrick Vieira makes three changes from his lineup that notched a midweek win over Montreal. In addition to Villa and Herrera, Ben Sweat will slot back in at left fullback to replace Ronald Matarrita, who got the start on Wednesday.
The rest of the back line will remain the same, with Frederic Brillant, Alexander Callens, and Andraz Struna rouding out the group that will try to make goalkeeper Sean Johnson's night as easy as possible.
In the midfield, Alex Ring will anchor a group that once again features Tommy McNamara. This time out, he'll have the pleasure of playing next to Yangel Herrera from the opening whistle.
Moving up the field, Jack Harrison and Maxi Moralez will flank El Capitan, who is in search of his 20th goal of the season.
Since Atlanta United also won on Wednesday, NYCFC will need another three points to keep themselves comfortably ahead of the pack for a first-round playoff bye.
NYCFC XI: Johnson; Struna, Brillant, Callens, Sweat; Ring, Herrera, McNamara; Harrison, Moralez, Villa (C)
Substitutes: Johansen, White, Lopez, Shelton, Pirlo, Matarrita, Wallace
Key Stats
- Alexander Callens makes his 32nd straight start tonight. The center back has played every single minute of the regular season for NYCFC this year.
- David Villa could pull level at the top of the MLS Golden Boot leaderboard with a goal tonight. He's currently on 19 strikes through 31 games of the regular season.
- Frederic Brillant averages 4.6 blocks per game. Wednesday night, he notched two key blocks within one minute.
- NYCFC and Chicago have both clinched playoff spots this season. This season marks Chicago's first playoff appearance since 2012.
- Against Montreal, Tommy McNamara completed 90% of his passes while wearing the captain's armband...
- ... While Alexander Callens and Frederic Brillant combined for five successful tackles along the back line.
