By Michael Lewis

FrontRowSoccer.com Editor

If you thought that New York City FC and the Red Bulls playing each other in Major League Soccer three times a year wasn’t enough, well, get ready for a fourth close encounter of an Open Cup kind.

That’s right — the Red Bulls and NYCFC have been selected to play each other on June 14, which certainly will make for another memorable page in their short history.

In fact, the Red Bulls will host the match, meaning the New Jersey-based club will welcome their rivals three times to Red Bull Arena this summer..

The Red Bulls lead the all-time series, 5-1.

NYCFC (5-4-2, 17 points), which is in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, is coming off a 2-1 defeat at Real Salt Lake Wednesday night while preparing for Orlando City SC in Florida Sunday night.

The Red Bulls (5-6-1, 16), who have lost three consecutive games, are in sixth place, a point behind their Hudson River Derby rivals. They host Toronto FC at Red Bull Arena Friday night.

The rivals will play three times during the regular season in 2017.

The Red Bulls host the first game at Red Bull Arena Saturday, June 24 at 1:30 p.m.

The competition goes to Yankee Stadium Sunday, Aug. 6 at 6 p.m. before returning to RBA Friday, Aug. 25 at 7 p.m.

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.