Two teams. One metropolis. Zero wins.

When 0-6 Northwestern visits 0-6 DePaul Wednesday, the Red Line Series rivalry reignites.

NU leads the overall series 9-6-1, but the Blue Demons have won two straight. And this year’s battle has a distinctively urgent feel to it on both sides of the ball.

“We need this win for the morale of the team,” senior defender Nick Spoerke said. “We’re a good team playing bad.”

The Wildcats lost two years ago at Wish Field. Eleven cards, including three reds, came out of that contest. The physical Blue Demons have NU thinking rough going into hostile territory.

“They hit hard, they hit high, they hit low,” Spoerke said. “We are going into the ghetto. The field is horrible and the fans are horrible. The game’s always a bloodbath.”

DePaul used its physical style of play to take the Cats out of their game each of the past two years. So NU used this week’s practice to get primed for the type of play they’ll encounter. And the players are ready for the rumble.

“Everyone’s pumped,” senior forward Jun Kim said. “We are no doubt a better team (than DePaul) with better players. It’s all about us staying mentally into the game and we’ll win.”

Despite the bad blood between the two squads and the rivalry status the game has attained, the Cats are trying not to get too wrapped up in their emotions.

More important for the Cats is turning the “el” series game into the year’s first “W.”

“We’re trying not to be focused on them too much,” said senior defender Paul Van Huysen. “Yes, it’s always a highly contested game but we really have to think about getting a win and putting our game together. Any chance for us to get a win is important to convert on.”

NU will try to reverse its recent pattern of giving up cheap goals late in the game. Likewise, DePaul will try to recover from a 3-2 overtime loss to Jacksonville on Saturday in which it relinquished a 2-0 second-half lead.

“We’ve played well the last five games at times,” Van Huysen said. “But we really haven’t played a complete game yet.”

Both teams have also struggled putting the ball in the net during their first six games. The Blue Demons have scored seven goals to NU’s six. The Cats defense, led by Van Huysen and Spoerke, will try to shut down DePaul’s two main scoring threats, Chris Greer and Shane Hudson, who combined for 30 goals last season.

With the game being played at a smaller-than-usual field, the Cats’ speed advantage may be taken away. But ball control — something NU has struggled with thus far and has worked on recently in practice — should be slightly easier on the smaller surface.

With struggling offenses matched up against overworked defenses, something will have to give.

And Spoerke is confident it DePaul will be doing the giving.

“We should beat this team all the time,” Spoerke said. “We’ll be ready to go.”