Red Bulls coach Sandro Schwarz and New York City FC coach Nick Cushing don’t expect to have to do much to get their respective sides ready for Saturday’s play-off edition of the Hudson River Derby.

Even after both teams have had some long breaks since beating their opponents in the first round in the MLS Cup Playoffs, the two rivals should be ready for an intense showdown at Citi Field.

“We have professional players here who say if you can’t prepare yourself for a semi-final against your rivals with a chance to progress, you’re playing the wrong sport,” Cushing said.

The Red Bulls defeated No. 3 seed FC Cincinnati in two games of a best-of-three in the first round, while NYCFC defeated defending MLS Cup champions the Columbus Crew in three games.

But the Red Bulls’ quick win and the international break mean they haven’t played for 20 days, and it will be a full two weeks since NYCFC took the field for a competitive match when things got underway at 5:30 o’clock Saturday.

The break certainly stifled some of the momentum both teams felt after their series wins over two favored teams in the East.

Cushing called the break “not ideal” when addressing reporters ahead of the Eastern Conference semifinals, but both coaches tried to use the downtime to their advantage. Cushing used the time for his players to get some rest and recovery, while Schwarz used it as an opportunity to tactically prepare for the upcoming match.

There won’t be many surprises for either team considering how familiar the New York squads are with each other, but City has the edge in the regular season this year after beating the Red Bulls.

Yet that does not seem to be something that players on both sides want to take into account on Saturday.

“I think when we play them in the playoffs it will be a different game,” Red Bulls defender Andres Reyes said. “I think we will have a lot of emotions. This match could be one of the most important for us, so we have to be sharp.”

“I don’t think it really matters who has won before, and who hasn’t,” added NYCFC defender Tayvon Gray. “I think the focus is only on this one because it counts. I can say I beat you five times before and then we beat you in the playoffs. So I think it’s just lock-in, focus on the game and that’s it.

The previous two matches couldn’t have been more different, with NYCFC beating the Red Bulls 2-1 in May and then beating them 5-1 in September at the Red Bull Arena.

Recent history has given City the edge in who is the favorite in the play-off match – the first between New York’s two MLS clubs.

“If you look at the last round, especially Miami, Columbus, Cincinnati, everything out and if you look before the playoffs started, they would have been the three favorites in the East,” NYCFC midfielder Justin Haak said. “And in these types of games where one mistake or one good moment can change the entire game, it doesn’t really matter who is the favorite.”

There was some concern that one of the Red Bulls’ biggest attacking weapons, Lewis Morgan, would be unavailable, but Schwarz confirmed on Thursday that he would be available.

Morgan, together with fellow international Emil Forsberg, has been decisive in matches for the Red Bulls all season. Morgan is still looking for his first postseason goal this year, but Forsberg had a goal and an assist in the Red Bulls’ last win.

Saturday’s game will mark the second time a Hudson River Derby game has taken place at Citi Field, although the game will only have about 25,000 fans in the stands because part of the Mets’ home has been winterized for the offseason.

The Red Bulls have only played at Citi Field once and defenseman John Tolkin told The Post that the quality of the field is “terrible.”

“But those are the conditions in which both teams have to play,” he said. “If we start making excuses about the field, then we have already lost. It’s certainly interesting to walk into a baseball stadium and see a football field there. … I don’t think a lot of guys are going to think about that when the whistle blows.”

The baseball stadium is located next to the future home of NYCFC, which is expected to be completed in time for the 2027 MLS season.

No groundbreaking has taken place yet, but a spokesperson for NYCFC told The Post that they expect to break ground before the end of the calendar year and that everything is still on track for the stadium’s opening in 2027.