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

The Leagues Cup fate of New York City FC and Toluca could be determined on Tuesday as those sides meet at this tournament for the first time at Yankee Stadium.

Last Friday, the reigning Liga MX Clausura champions came back to defeat CF Montreal 2-1, while NYCFC were 2-0 winners over Club Leon in their previous affair.

Match preview

We witnessed another poor start to a Leagues Cup encounter for Toluca on matchday two, but they bounced back once again, winning their two matches played of this tournament despite conceding first.

Interestingly, Antonio Mohamed’s men have gone on to win their last five competitive fixtures when conceding the opener, while their only defeat last month occurred when they drew first blood (4-3 loss to Tigres).

While they have won their two games played thus far in the group phase, only a victory in normal time on Tuesday would guarantee their place in the last eight of this competition.

Toluca have never been shut out of a group encounter at the Leagues Cup, netting multiple times since the event introduced a group stage in 2023.

All five of their normal time victories in the group portion of this competition occurred when they had netted in the opening 45 minutes of play.

Diablos Rojos have won seven of their nine all-time meetings against MLS teams in this competition, without a single defeat in the group stage.

New York City followed a familiar script that we have seen from them throughout 2025, bouncing back from a defeat with a win in their next match.

Pascal Jansen’s side have not lost consecutive games domestically since March-April, while the Pigeons have never suffered successive defeats in this competition.

Heading into matchday three on three points, they will likely need to win to have any hope of avoiding a group stage exit at the Leagues Cup for the first time.

The Boys in Blue have won their last five competitive fixtures when netting multiple times and are unbeaten in eight consecutive matches when doing so.

At the same time, they are unbeaten in their last nine matches played across all competitions when scoring the opening goal, dropping points in only one of those instances (1-1 draw at Sporting Kansas City).

NYCFC have never won a Leagues Cup contest in normal time at Yankee Stadium versus a Mexican opponent, though they did defeat Queretaro on penalties in the group phase last year.

Toluca Leagues Cup form:

Toluca form (all competitions):

New York City FC Leagues Cup form:

New York City FC form (all competitions):

Team News

There was only one newcomer in the Toluca starting 11 on matchday two, Friday, with Helinho coming in to replace Bruno Mendez.

Jesus Angulo scored three minutes after Efrain Andres Morales Badillo had put Le CFM in front last week, while Paulinho fired home the winner three minutes later.

On the New York City side, Keaton Parks, Thiago Martins and Malachi Jones were all sidelined once again versus Leon with leg injuries.

Alonso Martinez netted the winner in that match after only seven minutes, with Agustin Ojeda adding some insurance later in the half and Matt Freese made five stops to collect a clean sheet.

Toluca possible starting lineup:

Garcia; Barbosa, Luan, Pereira, Gallardo; Ruiz, Romero; Dominguez, Angulo, Vega; Paulinho

New York City FC possible starting lineup:

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

We say: Toluca 2-1 New York City FC

It is rare to see New York City get dominated in a game, though they have struggled all year to maintain the same intensity from one match to the next, while Toluca have shown more consistency in 2025 from one match to the next.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.