Preview: Dallas vs New York City FC - prediction, team news, lineups

For the first time in over three years, New York City FC will visit Toyota Stadium to face Dallas in an MLS regular-season match on Friday evening.

The Toros moved up to 12th in the Western Conference with a 3-0 win over St Louis City, while New York dropped to eighth in the East with a 1-1 draw at Sporting Kansas City.

Match preview

It took nearly four months, but at last, Dallas collected another home triumph in this competition, while picking up just their second clean sheet at Toyota Stadium this year.

With 11 matches remaining in their regular season campaign, Eric Quill’s side are four points below the San Jose Earthquakes for that final playoff spot, though they have a game in hand.

A win or draw on Friday would equal their longest unbeaten run in MLS this year (three games), while maximum points would mark the first time they have won consecutive home contests this year.

Rarely in 2025 have we seen this team look comfortable defensively, especially at home, where they have given up multiple goals on five occasions.

Four of their five wins in the competition this year have occurred when they had either conceded the opening goal or been behind after 45 minutes.

Friday will be their sixth meeting of the year versus an Eastern Conference club, and the Toros are unbeaten in four of those previous five fixtures but have never won a home game against the East since August 2022 (1-0 win versus the Philadelphia Union).

After coming from behind to steal three points from Orlando City, the shoe was on the other foot for New York City last weekend.

The Pigeons went in the lead against SKC after 22 minutes but could not hold on as they failed to win for only the third time in the 2025 regular season when leading in the second half.

On Friday, though, they can increase their unbeaten run away from home to three matches, which would equal their longest such run of the 2025 campaign.

It has been just over three years since the Boys in Blue have emerged victorious from a regular season away fixture versus a Western Conference opponent, losing to Los Angeles FC (1-0) earlier this year and claiming at draw at SKC the last time out.

Pascal Jansen’s men are in a tricky position, trailing Charlotte FC for an automatic first-round playoff berth with one fewer win, while they are just three points above the post-season line.

NYCFC are unbeaten in seven of their eight all-time meetings against the Toros, beating them for the first time at Toyota Stadium the last time out in 2022 (1-0).

Dallas MLS form:

New York City FC MLS form:

Team News

A knee bruise kept Paxton Pomykal out of the Dallas fold versus St Louis, Nolan Norris was sidelined due to a sore ankle and Anderson Julio did not feature because of a leg injury.

Petar Musa netted a brace in their previous match, while Kaick netted his first career goal in MLS and Maarten Paes made two stops to collect a clean sheet.

On the New York City side, Hannes Wolf, Keaton Parks and Malachi Jones were all unavailable in Kansas City with each player dealing with leg injuries.

The visitors have also announced that defender Thiago Martins will spend at least a month out after knee surgery, so Strahinja Tanasijevic should come into the back four.

Andres Perea found the back of the net for them after 22 minutes last week, the first of the 2025 MLS campaign for the American midfielder.

Dallas possible starting lineup:

Paes; Urhoghide, Ibeagha, Abubakar; Lletget, Kaick, Ramiro, Delgado; Farrington, Musa, Kamungo

New York City FC possible starting lineup:

Freese; Gray, Tanasijevic, Haak, O’Toole; O’Neill, Shore; Ojeda, Moralez, Perea; Martinez

We say: Dallas 1-3 New York City FC

Shutting out a side like St Louis is hardly indicative of how strong you are defensively, and the Toros could be in for another hard lesson against a side with proven quality in the attacking third.

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