New York Red Bulls head coach Michael Bradley insisted he will continue to push Julian Hall after the youngster's impressive start to the season.

The Red Bulls defeated the Columbus Crew 3-2 last time out, with Hall scoring a hat-trick to secure a second consecutive win for his side.

In doing so, Hall became the youngest player in MLS history to score a hat-trick, while NYRB moved up to sixth in the Eastern Conference.

They face rivals New York City FC, who are fifth in the East, next, and Bradley praised the impact of teenager Hall this season.

"He [Hall] comes in every day, ready to work, ready to train, ready to listen," Head Coach Michael Bradley said.

"He has great personality, he has really good starting points as a player, and I've enjoyed every second of working with him.

"We're going to continue to challenge him, continue to push him, continue to find the right ways to help him improve. Obviously, we're really, really excited for him."

Hall himself added: "I'm not going to lie, I got kind of emotional, like it kind of just makes me think about all the times I was working so hard to make memories like this.

"I'm just really grateful and thankful for the guys that set me up and put me in a great position."

NYCFC also come into the fixture off the back of consecutive wins, following up a 3-0 win over Columbus with a 1-0 victory over Charlotte FC.

Both sides are level on points (18) in the East, and the winning team could move up to fourth if the Chicago Fire lose to CF Montreal.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

New York Red Bulls – Julian Hall

At 18 years and 50 days old, Hall became the youngest player in MLS history to score a hat-trick.

The hat-trick took Hall to 12 career regular-season goals, with only Jozy Altidore and Freddy Adu hitting that mark at a younger age in MLS history.

New York City FC – Nicolas Fernandez

Nicolas Fernandez scored the lone goal of the game in the eighth minute in New York City's win on Wednesday, his seventh first-half goal this season.

That is the most first-half goals in MLS this campaign, with Hall and Preston Judd tied for second with six each.

MATCH PREDICTION – DRAW

NYCFC have won three straight matches against NYRB across all competitions, most recently a 3-1 win in the U.S. Open Cup in April.

It is the first time NYCFC have beaten their rival in three straight matches, and the only longer win streak in fixture history was the Red Bulls winning the first four meetings.

The Red Bulls have won two straight matches, scoring three times in each, after recording just one win in their previous nine regular-season matches (D3 L5).

This is the first time they have scored three or more goals in consecutive league matches for two years, since scoring four in two games in a row in May 2024.

NYCFC have kept clean sheets in consecutive wins; it is the first time they have kept consecutive clean sheets in regular-season play since last May. The last time the team kept three straight clean sheets was in September 2023.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

New York Red Bulls – 37%

Draw – 26.3%

New York City FC – 36.7%