New York City FC are set to take on the Toronto FC at Red Bull Arena on Wednesday night in the second game of Phase 2 for the MLS season restart.
Here’s the Keys to the Match, presented by Tri-State Ford…
Round 3
Tonight will mark the third of at least four meetings between NYCFC and Toronto FC in 2020, with both sides earning one win apiece through the first two.
Facing off against a familiar foe, Ronny Deila believes it will be as difficult as ever against one of the best teams in the league.
Ronny told reporters yesterday: “It will be a tough game against a tough team – everybody knows what Toronto is. It will be a big test for us. We are well prepared, we’ve rested, we haven’t lost for six games and have good momentum in the group.”
Selection Dilemmas
Deila will be boosted by the returns of Ronald Matarrita, Jesus Medina and James Sands to the reckoning for selection after the trio missed the trip to New England last weekend.
Tayvon Gray, Maxi Moralez and Gedion Zelalem remain out, but that leaves plenty of NYCFC players up for seletion and plenty of decisions for Ronny to make on the XI he’ll send into battle tonight in New Jersey.
Toronto Form
Toronto FC played their first match in the U.S. in nearly two months against DC United on Saturday night where they ended in a 2-2 draw.
Running a 4-4-2 formation, Toronto’s goals came from Alejandro Pozuelo and Ayo Akinola off an assist from Pablo Piatti.
As they enter Wednesday’s match, we’re ready for a tough competitor as their current standings leave them in the fourth seed with six wins, four draws, and two losses.
Last Time
This year, the teams faced off during the MLS is Back Tournament in Round 16 where NYCFC avenged their previous loss to Toronto with a 3-1 win.
An early goal from Jesus Medina started off the first half strong and goals followed from Taty Castellanos and Maxi Moralez. The only score from Toronto FC came from former City forward Patrick Mullins near the end of the match.
NYCFC sits 5th in standings only one spot below Toronto FC in the Eastern Conference. With 17 points, a win for City would bring them just two points shy of Toronto’s 22 with the potential to pass them this weekend against FC Cincinnati.
A Busy Period
The remainder of the MLS regular season schedule was released yesterday, putting nine more games on the calendar for NYCFC between now and November 8.
That means there’s 11 games still to play in just 48 days, meaning we have plenty of the Boys in Blue to look forward to over the coming months.
It’ll be a busy time, meaning a full squad effort will be required, both on the pitch and cheering from home across the five boroughs.
Let’s keep it going, New York.
