New York Cosmos kick off their 2017 US Open Cup campaign with a trip to Pennsylvania. Reading United is lower-league opposition for the Cosmos, but the PDL side is affiliated with Philadelphia Union and regularly draws players from the MLS club's pool of Academy graduates in college.
This game is expected to yield a comfortable win for the Cosmos, who in turn are expected to challenge MLS opposition in later rounds of this tournament. But a mid-week road game is a tricky proposition, and Reading United has plenty of players keen to show they can rise to the level of a professional opponent.