Two sides fighting in and around the Major League Soccer Eastern Conference playoff places will do battle on Wednesday, as DC United entertain New York City FC.
The visitors make the trip having gone unbeaten in league action since the beginning of April, while their hosts came from behind to snatch a point against Inter Miami last time out.
Match preview
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It has already been a particularly mixed season in the MLS for DC United, who began the campaign with back-to-back wins before falling to four straight defeats.
They bounced back with wins over New England Revolution and Houston Dynamo, either side of a heavy defeat to Columbus Crew, before being dumped out of the US Open Cup following a 3-0 loss at the hands of New York Red Bulls.
Upon their return to league action last time out, DC United, under the interim management of Chad Ashton following the April departure of Hernan Losada, travelled to take on Inter Miami, and they looked set to leave empty-handed as the hosts took a 2-0 lead late in the first half.
Taxiarchis Fountas then quickly pulled a goal back on the stroke of half time, and Ola Kamara found the net with 15 minutes to go to see them take a share of the spoils.
Now sitting just two points outside of the playoff places in the Eastern Conference, with a game in hand on seventh-placed Atlanta United, the Black-and-Red will aim to return to winning ways on Wednesday to boost their chances of breaking into the top seven at this early stage of the season.
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They welcome a New York City FC side who have enjoyed a relatively opening run to start the season, collecting five wins and 17 points from their opening 10 matches.
After somewhat of a slow immediate start and a semi-final exit from the CONCACAF Champions League at the hands of Seattle Sounders, Ronny Deila's side appear to have kicked into gear recently, firstly bouncing back with consecutive wins over Real Salt Lake, Toronto and San Jose Earthquakes.
All three of those were eventful contests, as the former and latter finished 6-0 and 3-0 respectively, while they battled hard to eventually beat Toronto 5-4 on home turf, before their winning run was put on hold by a goalless stalemate with Sporting Kansas City.
Following a US Open Cup victory over Rochester New York, the Pigeons made a quick return to winning ways in the MLS on Sunday, beating Columbus Crew 2-0 thanks to goals from Talles Magno and Valentin Castellanos either side of half time.
Now coming into Wednesday's game in an eye-catching run of form that has seen them rise to sixth spot in the Eastern Conference, Deila's men will aim to continue their climb towards the top end of the table with what would be a sixth league win of the campaign.
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Team News
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DC United will be unable to call on midfielder Chris Durkin, who was sent off after coming off the bench in the draw with Inter Miami last time out.
Meanwhile, Andy Najar, Adrien Perez, Moses Nyeman and Chris Odoi-Atsem will likely remain sidelined due to injuries, with Ashton expected to field a similar starting XI on Wednesday.
Ola Kamara should come back in to lead the line, having netted five league goals so far this season, while fellow attacker Taxiarchis Fountas has also found the net five times in just five MLS appearances this term.
New York City marksman Valentin Castellanos has continued his fine scoring form into the new season, finding the net six times in the opening nine league games after topping the scoring charts with 22 last term.
Nineteen-year-old Brazilian winger Talles Magno has also shone for Deila's side, netting two goals and providing four assists in the early stages of the MLS campaign.
Centre-back Alexander Callens has featured in every minute of league action so far this season, and he should again play alongside Thiago Martins in front of goalkeeper Sean Johnson.
DC United possible starting lineup:
Hamid; Pines, Birnbaum, Hines-Ike; Gressel, Djeffal, Canouse, Smith; Estrada, Kamara, Fountas
New York City FC possible starting lineup:
Johnson; Acevedo, Martins, Callens, Gloster; Parks, Moralez; Pereira, Rodriguez, Magno; Castellanos
We say: DC United 1-2 New York City FC
The hosts will be on a relative high following their comeback last time out, but we do not see them matching the strong visiting outfit who come into the game in a hot streak of form.
Deila's side have plenty of quality in their ranks, and we see them outclassing the Black-and-Red largely thanks to their formidable attacking lineup.
For additional data used by our team to analyse our suggested result please click here.
Top tip
Sam Varley
