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Red Bull New York will take on Charlotte FC at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC on Saturday, Mar. 20 at 7:30 PM. MLS Matchday 5 will be broadcast on Apple TV.
Next up for Red Bull New York, a date in The Queen City. RBNY will take on Charlotte FC at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC on Saturday, Mar. 20 at 7:30 PM, with the broadcast on Apple TV.
Both sides are coming off of a draw in their previous matches, with the Red Bulls securing a point at the death against Toronto FC and The Crown playing Inter Miami to a scoreless draw in Matchday 4.
Home field advantage has been huge in the hisotry of this fixture, with neither side having won a match in the opponent's stadium. This will be the fifth all-time meeting between the two teams at Bank of America Stadium, with Charlotte FC holding a 2-2-0 record over RBNY. The Red Bulls hold a 5-3-2 record against Charlotte across all competitions, having won three of the last five meetings.
Let's take a closer look at the ninth ever MLS meeting between the two clubs:
A Look at Charlotte FC:
Charlotte FC came into the 2026 MLS season with higher expectations than ever. It's DP winger Wilfried Zaha's second season on his loan from Galatasaray, it returns a backline anchored by talented veterans like goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina and USMNT regular Tim Ream, and they've one of the best one-two punches in central midfield with Ashley Westwood and Pep Biel.
Through four matches, they haven't quite put it all together.
Their best performance was a 3-1 handling of a 10-men Austin FC on Matchday 3, and they looked up for the task in their most recent match, a 0-0 draw to a Messi-less Inter Miami.
The stage could be set on Saturday, though, for the top guns of Charlotte to finally have their coming out party.
Attacking midfield DP Biel leads the team with three goals and has been excellent thus far, but has had little help from top attacking talents like Zaha, striker Idan Toklomati, and wingers Liel Abada and Kerwin Vargas. New York's backline will likely be without both of its first choice center backs (Dylan Nealis and Justin Che) for the match, meaning Charlotte has the opportunity to attack a young backline that has not established much chemistry with one another.
I don't expect many changes from their previous lineups:
PROJECTED CHARLOTTE XI (4-2-3-1):
GK K. Kahlina
RB N. Byrne
CB A. Privett
CB T. Ream
LB H. Toffolo
CDM A. Westwood
CDM B. Bronico
RM L. Abada
CAM P. Biel
LM W. Zaha
ST I. Toklomati
RBNY On The Bounce:
After Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting rescued a point for the Red Bulls against Toronto last weekend, RBNY should be hungry for more against Charlotte.
Yes, they've never won there and will be missing their first choice center backs (Nealis is still recovering from an injury and Che hurt his hamstring vs TFC), but they have been building up in their ball dominance to this point.
They trailed for most of the match against Toronto but still came away from the game with something to celebrate. Against Charlotte, I expect them to come out strong and look for a first half goal, something that has eluded them since the opening match of the season.
If they don't get the first goal, then I expect the game to open up for the likes of Zaha and Biel to wreak havoc on a depleted Red Bulls defense.
However, in front of the Red Bulls defense is a strong midfield that welcomed back Ronald Donkor into the fold last weekend and has stalwarts (yes, even at 16) in Adri Mehmeti and Emil Forsberg. On top of that, Cade Cowell will return to the right wing position after welcoming a daughter with his wife last weekend.
While neither Jorge Ruvalcaba nor Cowell have scored or assisted yet for New York this season, so much of the Red Bulls attack comes from the pace and dynamism of their wingers. If those two players can combine with the likes of Forsberg, Donkor and young striker Julian Hall, it could be the energy burst they need for that all-important fruitful start to the match.
If not, they could be playing chase to that dangerous attack all night.
PROJECTED RED BULL NEW YORK XI (4-3-3):
GK E. Horvath
RB J. Marshall-Rutty
CB T. Parker
CB R. Voloder
LB M. Dos Santos
CDM A. Mehmeti
CM R. Donkor
CM E. Forsberg
RW C. Cowell
ST J. Hall
LW J. Ruvalcaba
Score Prediction
I'm going for a 2-2 draw. Neither side has had that scoring pop that they are capable of, so I think some of it will come out on Saturday night.
Zaha finally gets one, maybe even two, and the wingers finally turn their territorial dominance into some final third magic for New York. Cowell and Ruvalcaba to score.
I think the game is going to open up for Charlotte's attack to take advantage of a second-choice New York back line, while the pace and youth for New York will carve out several chances on the other end. Let's hope it'll look as exciting as I'm imagining it.
Empire Soccer Report Episode 11 is live!
In this episode of Empire Soccer Report, James Birle is joined by Michael Battista. The two discuss RBNY's draw to Toronto FC, preview the Red Bulls' next match against Charlotte and take a look at Round One of the U.S. Open Cup:
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