New York City FC vs. Montreal Impact — Yankee Stadium — Saturday, Aug. 1 — 2pm ET

If last weekend’s debut of Andrea Pirlo wasn’t enough, today’s home clash against the Impact could very well see Pirlo, Frank Lampard, and David Villa on the field together for the very first time. Lampard will be up for selection after training on Friday, and it’s likely that Pirlo will earn his first start after an impressive cameo in the second half of last weekend’s big win over Orlando City.

Still, even with all the star power expected to take the Yankee Stadium field, two important keys to the game will be the displays of Mix Diskerud and Kwadwo Poku in midfield. Poku put in a near-perfect shift against Orlando, completing dribbles, making tackles, and collecting THREE assists. That’s impressive stuff. Diskerud looked solid in his brief spell, and he should return to the XI with Gold Cup duty now a distant memory.

As for the visitors, the sixth-placed Impact come into today’s match on the back of a dramatic win over the Seattle Sounders. Defender and MLS All-Star Laurent Ciman has done it all for Montreal this season, anchoring the back line and scoring a number of critical goals, just like his stoppage-time header against Seattle. It won’t be easy, but a win for NYCFC would take Jason Kreis’ seventh-placed side above the visitors, who share the same point total as their hosts.

New York Red Bulls vs. Philadelphia Union — PPL Park — Saturday, Aug. 1 — 7pm ET

The Red Bulls are set to square off against their I-95 rivals for the third time this season—the first meeting came in MLS play while the second and most recent clash required penalties to settle a wild US Open Cup quarterfinal. Both occasions saw the Union come out on top, and Jesse Marsch’s side will be keen on avoiding another defeat while climbing closer to the Eastern Conference summit. Third-placed New York currently sit nine points behind leaders D.C. United with four games in hand while the Columbus Crew stand in second.

New York will like their chances on recent form, having won four of their last five, including the previous weekend’s shutout victory in Orlando. Attackers Bradley Wright-Phillips, Mike Grella, and Lloyd Sam should be ready to go after a weekend of friendly action, and we may even see the debut of recent addition Shaun Wright-Phillips. Of course, form would have indicated an easy win for New York when the teams first met in May, but Philadelphia stunned their hosts with strikes from C.J. Sapong—who’s enjoying a career year with seven goals so far—and Vincent Nogueira in the space of several minutes.

Philadelphia will also have the services of new man Tranquillo Barnetta and can move above the playoff cut-off line with a win. New York may be favored with a once-more healthy back line, slick midfield, and in-form attacking corps, but tonight’s visit to Chester should be a tough test.

New York Cosmos vs. Fort Lauderdale Strikers — Shuart Stadium — Sunday, Aug. 2 — 5pm ET

The Cosmos return to action with Sunday’s home match against Fort Lauderdale, who currently rest in the middle of the NASL Fall table, four points ahead of the last-placed Cosmos. Even with at least one game in hand on every other club, New York sit in a very unfamiliar position after leading the Spring Championship from wire to wire—the club’s first league defeat of 2015 two weekends ago was also a surprising blow.

Most recently, Giovanni Savarese’s men finished level with Indy Eleven, their second draw of the season with the Midwestern side. Walter Restrepo continued his fine stretch with the Cosmos’ lone goal of the night while highly-touted youngster Haji Wright made his NASL debut and nearly found a late game-winner. There’s a decent chance we’ll see more of the forward against Fort Lauderdale, who boast one of the league’s better defenses and should provide a difficult test for the front line.

A win, in addition to giving New York their first three points of the Fall campaign, could take the home side as high as seventh in the standings. It’s time to see what the Cosmos can do when starting from the bottom of the table.

Feature photo credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports