New York City FC vs. Toronto FC Match Preview | OneFootball

I’m going to make a case for this fixture in five points, even though it doesn’t appear terribly exciting on paper.

Argument #1: Nicolás Fernández

If for nothing else, watch this to see Fernández work his magic. The Argentinian’s signing last July from Elche was a catalyst in NYCFC’s late season playoff surge; he contributed 3g/1a in the final 11 games. In the playoffs he crushed it, notching another two goals plus an assist over five games. This season he’s exploded, with 16 contributions over 17 games (12g/4a). Only a handful of players have had similar impact over the same period, and they’re mostly household names. He should be.

Argument #2: Wolf & Ojeda

The duo flanking Fernández are pretty good, too. Left winger Hannes Wolf might not be at his peak, but he’s got 5 goals and 2 assists in 12 starts and 16 matches. His counterpart on the right side, Agustín Ojeda, just pips him with 5 goals and 3 assists (plus a drawn penalty). The total goals from this trio is one shy of the total scored by Toronto FC all season.

Argument #3: Luighi

He’s not the third Mario brother, but rather a mononymic Brazilian striker who should get a start on Friday (assuming all his visa work gets completed). His parent club Palmeiras wants the 20 year old to get playing time, and with such an experienced crew feeding him service expect to see him climbing the scoring tables soon. NYCFC actually paid a $267K loan fee just to have him for a half-season, so they have high expectations.

Argument #4: Goals galore

If the above didn’t convince you, Toronto has some pretty good offensive weapons as well. True, they’re not firing on all cylinders, but when they do they can be electric. Josh Sargent, who was benched against DC United last weekend as a precautionary measure, should be back up top. If for some reason he doesn’t start, then Emilio Aristizábal will be an adequate replacement. They both have three goals apiece. More essential to Toronto’s attack is left midfielder Dániel Sallói. He has the most contributions (7, 4g/3a). He’d have a 5th if Reid Roberts hadn’t made a Save of the Year play clearing his chip off the line back in May.

Toronto’s defense is somewhat woeful at the moment, conceding 1.8 goals per match. And with both sides only managing 3 clean sheets, the net is almost guaranteed to ripple plenty of times on both ends of the pitch.

Argument #5: Only thing going

If you’ve got no Friday plans, this is the only MLS match in town. The early kickoff (7:30pm ET/ 4:30pm PT) also means that you can catch the game and STILL have time to get out to the pub with your friends. Win win.