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• Toronto FC v FC Dallas: Estevez wants cool heads from visitors

  Nico Estevez says FC Dallas must put their trust in a long-term process as the Western Conference strugglers prepare to visit high-flying Toronto FC on Saturday.

  Dallas sit 13th in the West with just two wins from nine matches this year, though they snapped a seven-game winless run by beating the Houston Dynamo 2-0 last week.   

  Just as Estevez refused to be too critical of his players during their poor run of form, he will avoid getting too high off the back of a single victory.

  "As we always say, we're never too high and never too low. It's about taking the positive things that we did against Houston to carry through the week, having the same mentality," Estevez said.

  "Also, with some of the things that we didn't do well, we'll keep improving on those.

  "As we always say, it is a process and we're trying to keep growing throughout the season, while getting results."

  Toronto, meanwhile, sit fourth in the Eastern Conference with 16 points from their first 10 MLS games under John Herdman.

  They scored two late goals to overturn a 1-0 deficit and clinch a third straight victory against Orlando City last time out, leaving Herdman to credit his players for their resilience.

  "We showed a good mentality to set the tone on how we wanted to approach it," he said.

  "I thought the guys were brave from the front and stamped their physical dominance on the game. To see the shift they put in was exceptional. It was a complete performance."

  PLAYERS TO WATCH

  Toronto FC – Prince Osei Owusu

  Owusu has scored five goals for Toronto in MLS this year, his latest being a 90th-minute winner against Orlando last week. He has had 15 shots overall in 2024, converting 33.33 per cent of those. 

  FC Dallas – Petar Musa 

  Musa has scored in each of Dallas' last two matches, against the Colorado Rapids and Houston. 

  He has scored (three goals) or assisted (one) four of his team's seven MLS goals since the beginning of March, demonstrating his importance. 

  MATCH PREDICTION – DRAW

  Toronto won their first-ever meeting with Dallas 4-0 in June 2007, but Dallas have only lost one of 18 subsequent regular-season meetings (11 wins, six draws).

  Dallas, though, are winless in their last 11 games against Eastern Conference opponents across all competitions (five draws, six losses), dating back to a 1-0 win over Inter Miami last April.

  Toronto have more league wins this season (five) than they managed through the entirety of 2023 (four), but Dallas have only lost one of their last four. A draw could be on the cards in Canada.

  OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

  Toronto FC – 34.8%

  FC Dallas – 35.6%

  Draw – 29.6%

• Saudi Pro League: Mahrez and Firmino on target as Al-Ahli tighten grip on third place

  Riyad Mahrez and Roberto Firmino were both on target as Al-Ahli tightened their grip on third place in the Saudi Pro League table with a 4-1 win over Damac on Thursday.

  Matthias Jaissle's team were four goals up within just 25 minutes as Damac folded, Ziyad Al Johani and Feras Al Brikan netting their first two before Franck Kessie was felled by Dhari Al Anazi for a penalty, converted by Mahrez.

  Firmino then tapped home a fourth after being teed up by former Newcastle United winger Allan Saint-Maximin on the break, but Al-Ahli took their foot off the gas from there, Domagoj Antolic's second-half consolation rounding off the scoring.

  Elsewhere, 10-man Al-Riyadh scored two stoppage-time draws to earn a dramatic 2-2 draw with Al-Fateh in Al-Mubarraz. 

  Goals from Djaniny and former Columbus Crew star Lucas Zelarayan put Slaven Bilic's hosts on the brink of victory, with Al-Riyadh playing almost half the game a player down after Khalid Al Shuwayyi's 54th-minute red card. 

  An astonishing collapse denied them, however, with Mohammed Al Shwirekh halving the arrears one minute into stoppage time before Didier Ndong headed in a left-wing cross three minutes later.

  Thursday's other game saw Al-Hazm and Al-Akhdoud play out a goalless draw, keeping the hosts bottom of the table while Al-Akhdoud inched two points clear of the relegation zone.

• Dyche still demanding 'the hard yards' from Everton despite Premier League safety

  Sean Dyche claimed putting in "the hard yards" is what ultimately got Everton over the line when it came to securing their Premier League status.

  Everton beat Nottingham Forest, Liverpool and Brentford in the space of six days in April to ensure their place in the top flight for another season.

  That is despite two separate points deductions, worth eight points overall, having been dished their way this season. Everton are set to appeal the second decision at some point in May.

  Last week's 1-0 win over Brentford saw Dyche's team move 11 points clear of 18th-placed Luton Town, meaning Friday's game against the Hatters no longer has so much riding on it for the Toffees, though Dyche will not let the hard work stop.

  "I took over midway through so it is a bit different to last season. You try to re-model a group that's already been modelled, which is a challenge," Dyche told reporters.

  "This season I think the biggest part of the success overall has been pockets of all different reasons. It is the work, work of the team I think we have got back to.

  "We may lose it so much due to good performances when we were not winning but the hard yards as I call it, just doing the graft. The organisation, the will, the thirst and desire to work, to really work.
  
  "I feel we still have good quality players here but it has to have a base to work from. You have to have a tactical understanding, you have to work, you have to do the hard yards, you have to cover the ground.

  "Stats show for 60 minutes the ball is in play, if you're a player you're probably going to have it for one minute so what are you doing for the rest of it, for the other 59 minutes? You better be working because that's what the modern game demands."

  PLAYERS TO WATCH

  Luton Town – Ross Barkley

  Barkley – who made 150 league appearances for Everton between 2011 and 2017 – has scored just one goal in 10 Premier League games against sides he has previously played for in the competition. However, that strike did come in a match at Kenilworth Road this season, a 3-2 defeat to Chelsea.

  Everton – Idrissa Gueye

  Gueye played a crucial role in Everton's survival, scoring in the matches against Forest and Brentford. The former Paris Saint-Germain midfielder has netted three times this season, and the Toffees will be hoping to tie him down to a new contract.

  MATCH PREDICTION: DRAW

  Everton are winless in nine away Premier League games (D3 L6) since beating Burnley 2-0 in December. Indeed, while five of the Toffees' first eight league wins this season came away from home, each of their last four have all been at Goodison Park.

  Luton have beaten Everton twice this season, once in the league and once in the cup, with both of those 2-1 wins coming at Goodison Park.

  The Hatters have won just one of their last 14 Premier League games (D3 L10), with no side picking up fewer points than the Hatters since the start of this run (six). Despite this, they have only failed to score in one of their last 23 league games, a 2-0 defeat at league leaders Arsenal last month.

  This is Everton's first away match against Luton since a 1-0 win in the League Cup in October 2007, with Tim Cahill netting an extra-time winner. Their last league visit to Kenilworth Road also ended in a 1-0 victory back in November 1991 thanks to a Robert Warzycha goal.

  OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

  Luton Town – 36.7%

  Everton – 34.6%

  Draw – 28.7%