Three of the next four MLS fixtures for DC United take place at Audi Field, beginning on Wednesday when they host New York City FC.
Both sides failed to find the mark over the weekend as the Black and Red dropped to 12th in the Eastern Conference with a 2-0 defeat at Toronto, putting them five points behind the Pigeons in 10th as the latter lost 1-0 to CF Montreal.
Match preview
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DC’s two-match winning run across all competitions came to a screeching halt Saturday, with this team suffering a fourth away defeat in MLS this year.
At home is where they have been at their best this season, with Troy Lesesne‘s men coming away pointless from only two of their six league games at Audi Field in 2025.
On Wednesday, they have a chance to win consecutive home matches in this competition for the first time since April-May 2022 (two), having beaten the Colorado Rapids in the US capital earlier this month.
Their Achilles heel throughout the campaign thus far has been at the back, where they have conceded the second-most goals in the league (25), including multiple strikes in seven outings.
In their 12 league games this season, the Black and Red have failed to win three times when scoring the opener, accounting for seven points dropped thus far.
They are unbeaten in their last two home matches versus the Boys in Blue, with their previous victory against them occurring at Audi Field in 2023 (2-0), a defeat which ultimately caused New York to miss the playoffs for only the second time in club history.
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Last season, we finally saw a breakout striker emerge from the New York City FC side in Alonso Martinez, but his quality has not been enough for this team in recent outings.
Pascal Jansen‘s men have failed to find much attacking balance outside of the Costa Rican this year, with NYCFC netting the joint fourth-fewest goals in the Eastern Conference, nearly half of which have come from Martinez (six).
In 2025, the Pigeons have scored a goal or fewer in eight MLS affairs and are goalless in their last two competitive fixtures, exiting the US Open Cup last week with a 1-0 defeat versus the Pittsburgh Riverhounds of the United Soccer League (USL).
While they have not scored many goals, the Pigeons have been well-organised defensively, posting two clean sheets in their previous three MLS matches.
NYCFC won all three of their league fixtures as the visitors in May of last year and have not lost an away match domestically this month since the New York Red Bulls blanked them 1-0 on May 13, 2023.
The Boys in Blue have points in three of their last four meetings with DC, winning just one of their five visits to Audi Field this decade (2-0 win in 2022).
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Team News
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On Saturday Joao Peglow, Dominique Badji and Lukas MacNaughton all sat out for DC due to thigh strains, while Jackson Hopkins was sidelined because of a sore ankle.
A knee injury kept Gabriel Pirani off the field for that contest, and Christian Benteke played the full 90 minutes despite previously suffering a quad strain.
Lucas Bartlett scored an own-goal against Toronto, which put them behind by two goals, ruining a solid outing from former NYCFC keeper Luis Barraza, who stopped six efforts in the defeat.
Against Montreal, New York City were without Birk Risa, Kevin O’Toole, and Malachi Jones, all of whom were dealing with leg injuries.
A sore foot kept midfielder Keaton Parks on the sidelines as well, the first time the veteran had failed to feature in a regular season contest this year.
Aiden O’Neill took his place in the starting 11, the first appearance for the Australian in an NYCFC shirt, as he and Nico Cavallo came in for Parks and Hannes Wolf.
DC United possible starting lineup:
Barraza; Herrera, Peltola, Bartlett, Schnegg; Stroud, Zouhir, Servania, Enow, Kijima; Benteke
New York City FC possible starting lineup:
Freese; Gray, Martins, Haak, Cavallo; Shore, O’Neill; Moralez, Fernandez, Wolf; Martinez
We say: DC United 1-3 New York City FC
A striker with the quality of Martinez should be able to capitalise on a leaky DC defensive unit that often look out of sorts and leave too many gaps in behind, and that could be enough for the visitors to win even with the quality of Benteke on the opposite side.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
