Charlotte FC vs Toronto FC Match Preview: Predicted Starting XI and Player Matchup
- TopBin90 Football
- 5 minutes ago
- 5 min read
By Rylee McKinney - @rylees_roster and Sean McGuffin - @SeanMCG704
What a week it has been for Charlotte FC. A difficult 1-0 loss to NYCFC on Wednesday night puts Charlotte on a 5-game winless streak in MLS play.
But this week is not over just yet! The Crown is set to return to the Bank once more to face off against Toronto FC.
Currently, Charlotte sits in 9th place in the Eastern Conference, and Toronto trails slightly behind in 10th place with a record of 3W-4L-5D in regular-season play.
Saturday’s matchup will be a difficult one for Charlotte, whose lagging momentum and fatigue will be a battle in and of itself.
Reflecting on their most recent 0-1 loss to NYCFC, head coach Dean Smith said: "Margins in football are massive on results; unfortunately, the small margins over the last few weeks have gone against us."
Toronto, on the other hand, will be heading to Charlotte with fresh legs for Matchday 14. With no mid-week match and a fresh elimination from the Canadian Championship in the preliminary round, Toronto will be hitting Charlotte with extra rest, even if it's with a lack of momentum.
The last time these two teams met was back in July of 2025. During the 2025 season, Charlotte and Toronto faced off twice, with Charlotte winning both 2-0.
So what has changed for both teams since then? Well, in 2026, Toronto celebrates its 20th season, facing immense pressure from supporters to break its five-year playoff drought.
Leading up to this season, Toronto signed some serious names–such as forward Josh Sargent from Norwich City for over $20 million and MLS veteran defender Walker Zimmerman from Nashville SC.
Key departures for Toronto include goalkeeper Sean Johnson and several defenders, including Kevin Long, Raoul Petretta, and Sigurd Rosted.
Despite significant roster changes, Toronto continues to struggle to field a successful team. Back in 2025, Toronto finished 12th in the EC, not too far from its current position in 2026.
As for Charlotte FC, their Starting XI will look mostly familiar to Toronto, aside from Adilson Malanda and Patrick Agyemang.
Similar to Toronto, Charlotte has been investing significant minutes in their younger players. In late February, the club announced the elevation of Crown Legacy FC defender Morrison Agyemang to the First Team.
Following Morrison’s promotion, Smith also brought forward Rodolfo Aloko from Crown Legacy on a U22 Initiative contract and recently signed Homegrown midfielder Aron John to the First Team.
Toronto recently signed three Toronto FC II players–defender Micah Chisholm, midfielder Fletcher Bank, and forward Jahmarie Nolan–to short-term agreements against Inter Miami for Matchday 12.
It appears that both teams are spending minutes experimenting a bit with different lineups and rotations to figure out what their best XI as the season progresses. Tonight’s matchup to watch features two players who must perform: Idan Toklomati/Archie Goodwin versus Walker Zimmerman.
Idan Toklomati - CLTFC - Forward
Charlotte’s number nine has had an interesting…well, more like an uneventful season so far. Starting in 12 of 13 matches, Toklomati has not quite lived up to the expectations of the striker position.
With four goals and one assist, Toklomati sits second in goals for The Crown, behind Pep Biel. According to FotMob, the Israeli ranks 65.8% in total goals among strikers in the league.
His performances as of late have Dean Smith talking about the lack of line-breaking runs, which is at least in part due to Toklomati's play.
Backup striker Archie Goodwin has scored three goals in only 155 minutes compared to Toklomati’s 1,013 minutes played.
Signing Goodwin at the end of the 2025 season, Smith noted that this decision was simply to amp up the internal competition. However, the competition between the two is not quite tangible to fans, given how little the Australian plays.
Despite his performance as of late, Toklomati did make the 2025 22 under 22 list. His consistency, versatility, and ability to deliver in high-pressure moments all point to his potential.
His competition, Goodwin, puts in strong shifts with good running and is willing to push backlines. The Australian is particularly strong at picking off opportunities in the box. Most importantly, his speed and ability to draw fouls make him a promising player to watch, whether it's from the start or from the bench.
Walker Zimmerman - TFC - Center Back
Former Nashville SC defender Walker Zimmerman recently joined Toronto FC heading into the 2026 season.
Despite being a household name in Nashville, his expiring DP contract allowed the team to restructure its roster. After all, the free agent spent a lot of time on the bench during his last season in Music City.
This old-school center back is known for his elite aerial ability, physical defending, and consistent leadership.
His experience and consistency will be the biggest threat to Charlotte’s strikers. So far this season, Zimmerman has started in nine of Toronto’s 12 MLS matches, even earning a goal.
Heading into Matchday 14, Zimmerman has won 61.9% of duels and 78.8% of aerial duels, illustrating he still has some elite defending left in the tank.
Summary
During Wednesday’s presser, Charlotte’s head coach Dean Smith reflected on Charlotte’s recent struggles: “We haven’t been a big enough threat in the final third.”
Saturday night's match will be an important one to save their fans’ spirits, especially at their home fortress.
Although Dean Smith mentioned their focus on through runs and making sure players are flooding the box in the attacking third, they will have to do this by putting pressure on Zimmerman.
Toklomati not only has to worry about conceding his starting spot to Goodwin, but he also has to worry about Zimmerman after a full week’s worth of training.
*stats from FotMob and MLS
Predicted Starting XI
Defensive Unit
Kristijan Kahlina made a rare error in last Saturday’s match, resulting in a 1-0 loss to New York City FC. Aside from the error, the defense showed its own, with Tim Ream’s return a major improvement, especially in positioning and team leadership. Ream will relinquish the Captain armband back to Ashley Westwood, but will still start alongside Nathan Byrne, Morrison Agyemang, David Schnegg, and Kristijan Kahlina.
Tyler Miller, Will Cleary, and Andrew Privett will be available as defensive subs. Henry Kessler has been taken off the status report and should be available as well.
Midfield
The aforementioned Westwood makes his return in tonight’s match against Toronto after serving a one-match suspension for yellow card accumulation. Westwood paid a visit to the supporters section on Wednesday, but his stadium tourism will be on pause with the captain returning to duty in the midfield. Pep Biel will continue to be a goal-scoring threat in midfield, with Djibril Diani likely rounding out the starters.
Brandt Bronico, Aron John, and Luca de la Torre will be available as subs.
Forward line
New York City and the United States National Team keeper Matt Freese held the Charlotte offense scoreless on Wednesday. The forward line will look for a bounce-back game against Toronto tonight. Wilfried Zaha will get a starting nod on the wing. Neither starting striker Idan Toklomati nor substitute striker Archie Goodwin was able to record a single shot against New York City, but Toklomati has been Dean Smith’s go-to this season and is expected to start tonight. Kerwin Vargas managed to get some good looks at goal and is likely to return to the starting lineup to round out the eleventh spot.
Goodwin, Liel Abada, Rodolfo Aloko, and Tyger Smalls will be available as subs.
Predicted Starting XI
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