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

New York City FC will try to avoid suffering consecutive defeats at the Leagues Cup for the first time when they host Club Leon at Sports Illustrated Stadium in New Jersey on Friday.

Both sides were beaten in their tournament opener, with the Pigeons stunned 3-0 by Puebla, while Leon claimed a single point despite a shootout loss versus CF Montreal.

Match preview

For the first time in this competition, New York City failed to win their opening group fixture, suffering their largest-ever defeat in a Leagues Cup affair on Tuesday.

The Boys in Blue have lost their last two group fixtures at this tournament by a combined margin of 7-2, while they have conceded a combined six goals in their last two competitive games.

Their opening match defeat marked the first time that they had lost a Leagues Cup affair in Harrison since the New York Red Bulls beat them 1-0 in the 2023 round of 32 when it was known as Red Bull Arena.

Pascal Jansen's men have yet to lose a competitive match this year as the home team when netting multiple times, winning all six of their MLS affairs in 2025 when doing so.

However, NYCFC have failed to win their last three Leagues Cup encounters in normal time when drawing first blood, emerging victorious in only one of those instances, defeating the New England Revolution on penalties last year.

Historically, they have never won a match at this tournament when behind after 45 minutes, losing on both of those occasions versus Mexican opposition.

Club Leon’s struggles continued on matchday one, as they suffered their seventh defeat in their previous eight matches played across all competitions.

It is the second time in consecutive seasons that they lost their opening game at the Leagues Cup, while they are winless in their last three group fixtures at this tournament.

On all three of those occasions, they had netted the opening goal and gone on to lose, with those last two defeats occurring on penalties.

If there is a positive sign going for Eduardo Berizzo’s men right now, it is how well they have begun their last few matches, failing to concede an opening-half goal in four successive competitive fixtures.

Featuring in this tournament for the fourth time, Leon have only given up one goal in the opening 45 minutes of a match, losing 2-1 to the Portland Timbers last year, while they have conceded a goal in the 90th minute or later in two of their previous three Leagues Cup affairs.

Los Panzas Verdes have only claimed one group stage victory at this tournament versus MLS opposition, blanking the Los Angeles Galaxy 1-0 in 2023.

New York City FC Leagues Cup form:

New York City FC form (all competitions):

Club Leon Leagues Cup form:

Club Leon form (all competitions):

Team News

In their matchday one defeat, New York City did not have Keaton Parks, Thiago Martins or Malachi Jones available for selection as all three players are dealing with leg injuries.

Six new faces came into their starting 11 on Tuesday, including Strahinja Tanasijevic, Nico Cavallo, Julian Fernandez, Nicolas Fernandez, Agustin Ojeda and Seymour Reid.

On the Leon side, there were four new names in their starting 11 on matchday one; Oscar Jimenez, Valentin Gauthier Pereira Brasil, Emilio Rodriguez and Rogelio Funes Mori.

Funes Mori had their opening goal, only for them to concede a Prince Osei Owusu equaliser in the second half, while Sebastian Santos was the only one to miss from the penalty spot as his effort struck the crossbar.

New York City FC possible starting lineup:

Freese; Gray, Tanasijevic, Haak, O’Toole; O’Neill, Perea; J. Fernandez, Moralez, Wolf; Martinez

Club Leon possible starting lineup:

Jimenez; Moreno, Gauthier, Frias, Reyes; Echeverria, Estrada; Beltran, J. Rodriguez, Rigoni; Funes Mori

We say: New York City FC 2-1 Club Leon

Although NYCFC have rarely managed to string together lengthy winning runs this year, they tend to bounce back well after a defeat, which has not always been the case of late for Leon.

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