NYCFC vs Deportivo Toluca FC preview: Ending Phase One of the Leagues Cup | OneFootball

After a four-game road trip and two Leagues Cup matches at Sports Illustrated Stadium, New York City FC will end Phase One of the Leagues Cup against Deportivo Toluca Fútbol Club at Yankee Stadium.  The Pigeons will be happy to return home.  Although, this will technically be considered a home game for Toluca since all of the tournament’s fixtures occurred in the United States or Canada.

Nevertheless, it will be good to be back at one of the home stadiums.  NYCFC will want to win, but it is unknown whether Pascal Jansen will play his main starters or give others a chance.  It is not official, but the Pigeons are pretty much eliminated from the next round since they lost the first fixture against Club Puebla.

Regardless of what happens in the standings, it would be nice to see the Boys in Blue fight to defeat the Liga MX side.  It would be a great confidence booster for the rest of the season.  Toluca is a top team, and many would expect them to move on.  But what if the Bronx side kept that from happening?  It would make things interesting.

So, let’s take a look at the preview of NYCFC’s last game of Phase One in the 2025 Leagues Cup.

NYCFC vs Deportivo Toluca preview

Date

NYCFC and Deportivo Toluca will play one another on Tuesday, August 5.

Time

The match will begin at 7:30 PM ET.

Location

The game will be at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, NY.

How to watch

Fans can watch the Leagues Cup fixture on the MLS Season Pass via Apple TV.

Weather

It will be a decent night for football.  It will be mostly cloudy to start, but the clouds will decrease during the evening.  It will be around 80 degrees and the humidity will hover at 50%.  There is no chance of rain.  Truthfully, the only thing to monitor will be the air quality with the Canadian wildfires.

Injury report

There is no injury report released for the Leagues Cup, but Malachi Jones (leg), Thiago Martins (leg), and Keaton Parks (leg) have all been out.  Hannes Wolf (leg) also missed the last match, so he will be questionable.

Players to watch

Tayvon Gray is the player to watch for NYCFC.  He was brilliant for the Pigeons against Club León and needs to repeat that performance to help stop Toluca in the attack.  Plus, since the Liga MX side will be extremely threatening in the attack, having Gray over Mitja Ilenič would be the smart move defensively.

On Toluca, the player to watch is Paulinho.  The striker has been a vital part of his team since joining in June 2024.  He has scored 32 goals in all competitions and has three goals in the Leagues Cup.  As such, he will be the most threatening player on the pitch.  Fans should expect him to start since the team will be fighting for a top-four spot to move on.

While it would be great for the Boys in Blue to win, they will suffer defeat regardless of who starts.  If Jansen starts most of his best players, then the team will lose 2-1.  If the starters align more similarly to the Puebla match, then NYCFC will fall 3-0.