All is not well in TFC Land. But the games keep on coming.
On the field, there is a team that displays next to nothing to cheer about. Off the field, supporters groups are displaying strongly-worded banners and MLSE CEO Keith Pelley emailing season ticket holders about his desire to “reward your passion and support for this club.” On Thursday, two more supporters groups released a statement in response to Pelley’s letter. You won’t be surprised, they’re not happy.
Head coach Robin Fraser can only do so much with the personnel he has available to field a team, and without any GAM left to spend, these are the guys he’s got. Pelley choosing this specific moment to pen his thoughts has raised countless eyebrows with the Toronto faithful. Almost two years ago, there was drama within the club in May 2023 between Bob Bradley and Federico Bernardeschi. What’s even more of a coincidence is that occurred leading up to a home match between Toronto FC and D.C. United.
Meanwhile, the 2025 MLS season is about a third of the way through and the Reds hold a 1-4-6 record. Their performances in the last three matches have been nothing but flat and disappointing, headlined by TFC’s penalty shootout loss to CF Montréal in the preliminary round of the Canadian Championship.
Christian Benteke and Co.
D.C. United sit 12th in the Eastern Conference, two spots ahead of TFC with five more points. When looking at the roster, all eyes turn to captain and Belgian bagsman Christian Benteke. The striker spent a decade in the English Premier League with Aston Villa, Liverpool and Crystal Palace before departing for the District of Columbia in August 2022.
Benteke has spearheaded the black-and-red in 2025, starting 10 games, scoring six goals and adding one assist. He was forced off in the first half against the New York Red Bulls on April 19 with a hamstring strain issue and missed the following week’s contest away at the Philadelphia Union. Brazilian forward João Peglow shouldered the load in that game and scored a brace.
D.C. have enjoyed recent success in the past week; a 2-1 victory versus Colorado Rapids and 2-0 U.S. Open Cup win over Charleston Battery, both at Audi Field in Washington.
Head coach Troy Lesesne has deployed a 3-4-3 formation lately with pure centre-backs in front of the goalkeeper and full-backs playing higher up the pitch. D.C.’s shape in their season opener against Toronto was a 4-2-3-1in a game that ended in a 2-2 draw with captain Jonathan Osorio and Federico Bernardeschi scoring the goals.
Fans will recognize two names in the visitors’ side: Lukas MacNaughton and Brandon Servania. MacNaughton was acquired by D.C. in late 2024 for General Allocation Money that went the way of Nashville SC. Servania was signed as a free agent.
Injuries galore
Toronto FC could almost field an entire injured XI. The most heavily impacted area of the pitch is defence, Richie Laryea, Zane Monlouis and Henry Wingo all remain out with lower body injuries. In TFC’s 2-0 loss at home to the New England Revolution, Nicksoen Gomis had to be helped off the field in the second half.
We now know that Gomis will not play again in 2025.
Osorio will be out for weeks with a dislocated shoulder he suffered in the Canadian Championship game, and Markus Cimermancic and Derrick Etienne Jr. also have lower-body injuries. Zane Monlouis could be back and though Luka Gavran is dealing with a lower back issue, it’s possible he makes the bench for this weekend’s action.
Young centre-back Lazar Stefanovic will most likely see more minutes, as Kevin Long and Sigurd Rosted anchor the backline, and there may be another one or two TFC II call-ups.
The club is in dire straits, and the situation will only get worse until it somehow gets better.
How to watch
You can tune in to watch the game on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV. Kick-off is set for 4:30 pm ET.
Projected Lineups
Toronto FC Johnson; Thompson, Long, Rosted, Petretta; Coello, Flores; Corbeanu, Insigne, Bernardeschi; Brynhildsen
D.C. United: Barraza; Peltola, Antley, Rowles; Schnegg, Enow, Servania, Herrera; Stroud, Benteke, Kijima
