Sports Mole previews Tuesday’s Leagues Cup clash between Toluca and Sporting Kansas City, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Matchday three in the Leagues Cup will see Sporting Kansas City taking on Liga MX representatives Toluca at Children’s Mercy Park on Monday.
Both Sporting and Toluca have already secured their places in the knockout stages but will compete for the top spot in the group in this encounter.
Match preview
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In last season’s Leagues Cup, Sporting progressed from their group after a 3-3 draw with FC Cincinnati and a 1-0 win over Chivas Guadalajara, but they were eliminated by none other than their upcoming opponents in the round of 32.
However, that was not their first encounter as the two sides famously clashed in the 2019 CONCACAF Champions League round of 16, where Sporting comfortably advanced past Toluca with a 5-0 aggregate win, including a 3-0 victory here at Children’s Mercy Park in the first leg.
Last week, SKC went a goal down halfway through the first half against Chicago but fought back well in the second half with Robert Castellanos getting the leveller before Willy Agada secured the victory in the 76th minute.
Agada has been in sensational form for Peter Vermes‘ side this season, scoring six goals in his last five starts for the club while leading the team with nine goals in the MLS and 11 in all competitions.
The Nigerian forward has now netted 20 goals in as many games at Children’s Mercy Park across all competitions and has also scored in each of Sporting’s last two Leagues Cup matches, including in their loss to Toluca last season.
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Meanwhile, Toluca have begun their 2024 Apertura season on a positive note, still unbeaten with a 2-0-2 record after their first four matches of the campaign, with both wins secured at home, while the draws came on the road.
In their Leagues Cup 2024 opener on Thursday night, Toluca came back from a goal down to comfortably oust Chicago Fire FC 3-1 after a weather delay at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, Illinois.
Georgios Koutsias gave the Fire an early lead but Jesus Angulo levelled proceedings at the half-hour mark before Marcel Ruiz‘s brace on either side of the interval secured Toluca’s progress to the next round.
The winner of this match will move on to face the first-placed team from Group 8 of the West Region, which includes Atlas FC, Houston Dynamo FC and Real Salt Lake in the round of 32 next week.
The loser, on the other hand, will travel to meet reigning MLS Cup champions Columbus Crew to kick off the knockout stage.
Toluca Leagues Cup form:
Toluca form (all competitions):
Sporting Kansas City Leagues Cup form:
Sporting Kansas City form (all competitions):
Team News
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Toluca have just one known injury absentee heading into this match in the form of Juan Escobar, who has missed the last nine matches for the Liga MX outfit and is still some way from returning to action.
Ruiz’s stellar performance against the Fire will likely see him maintain his place in the Mexican outfit’s engine room alongside Claudio Baeza and former Chivas attacking midfielder Alexis Vega.
Sporting KC will have to make do without the services of two first-team players for this match with Felipe Hernandez still suspended and Logan Ndenbe sidelined for the foreseeable future with an ACL injury.
Memo Rodriguez and Daniel Rosero have been flagged with hip and hamstring injuries respectively but have not been ruled out of selection just yet and will likely need to undergo late fitness tests.
Toluca possible starting lineup:
Volpi; B Garcia, L Garcia, Pereira, Gallardo; Baeza, Ruiz; Dominguez, Vega, Angulo; Paulinho
Sporting Kansas City possible starting lineup:
Melia; Shelton, Castellanos, Fintas, Leibold; Walter, Radoja; Afrifa, Thommy, Salloi; Agada
We say: Toluca 1-2 Sporting Kansas City
This looks like a very even contest after both these sides put in similar performances against Chicago in their opening matches of the competition. However, with the ‘home’ advantage and in-form striker, we feel Sporting KC will be able to edge the Liga MX side to the top spot in the group.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.