And here it is, the annual FC Dallas 4th of July game and fireworks show.
12th in the West FC Dallas (20 points, 5-10-5) host 6th in the West Portland Timbers (30 points, 8-7-6) at 7:30 pm tonight at Toyota Stadium.
Portland is unbeaten in 7 straight with a 5-0-2 record in that stretch, outscoring opponents 13-6.
This will be the 22nd time in 29 MLS seasons that FC Dallas will host a match on the Fourth of July. Dallas lost, 1-0, to D.C. United on Independence Day last year, the club’s first defeat on the holiday since a
1-0 loss, also to D.C. United, in 2006.
Broadcast Info
TV: MLS Season Pass.
Apple TV English: Mark Followill, Warren Barton
Apple TV Spanish: Raul Guzman, Carlos Ruiz
English Radio: 1190 am and the FC Dallas App. Ryan Figert, Mark Dodd, and Steve Davis are on the call. Pregame at 7 pm with Sam Hale.
Spanish Radio: FC Dallas app with Carlos Alvarado and Jimmy Venegas.
MLS Injury/Player Availability Report
FC Dallas
OUT: Geovane Jesus (knee)
OUT: Paxton Pomykal (knee)
OUT: Alan Velasco (knee)
OUT: Patrickson Delgado (knee)
OUT: Jesus Ferreira (officially upper leg, unofficially hamstring)
OUT: Liam Fraser (officially upper leg, unofficially groin)
Portland Timbers
OUT: Max Crepeau (Canada)
OUT: Marvin Loria (Lower Leg)
OUT: Eric Miller (Leg)
OUT: Kamal Miller (Canada)
OUT: Zac McGraw (Upper Body)
Discipline Report
Suspended
None
Suspended on Next Yellow
DAL: Petar Musa, Sebas Ibeagha
POR: Evander, Kamal Miller, Dario Zuparic
FCD Lineup Prediction
Interim Coach Peter Luccin has three games in six days, the most important of which is the third one next Wednesday. So some of the choices I’m predicting today are about setting up rotations for that stretch.
Petar Musa is rested and Tsiki Ntsabeleng is off the injured list (illness) so they both go right in. You can call this a 4-1-4-1 or a 4-3-3, even rotate the midfield into a double pivot if you like with Tsiki sitting deeper.
Ordinarily, you might rotate in a mid-week game, but instead, Luccin did some rotation last game and should again on Sunday as he targets the full-strength XI (similar to this one) in the Cup game next Wednesday.
Bench Prediction
Jimmy Maurer
Omar Gonzalez
Nolan Norris
Sam Junqua
Carl Sainte
Eugene Ansah
Ema Twumasi
Dante Sealy
Tarik Scott
MLS Kit Assignments
Officials
REFEREE: Rosendo Mendoza
ASSISTANT REFEREES: Jeremy Kieso, Zach McWhorter
4TH OFFICIAL: Joshua Encarnacion
VAR: Daniel Radford, Tom Supple
More Game Info
- FCD vs. POR all-time: 10-9-9 (47 goals scored, 34 goals conceded)
- FCD vs. POR home: 9-1-5 (36 goals scored, 15 goals conceded)
Dallas’ lone loss at home to the Timbers came on October 26, 2014.
FC Dallas is 1-8-2 when conceding first.
The Timbers have won 11 points from losing positions in the MLS this season, only Inter Miami (24) have recovered more.
Dallas is 2-8-0 in games decided by one goal.
Felipe Mora, Jonathan Rodríguez, and Evander have each scored nine goals this season. Portland is currently the only team in MLS with three players who have scored nine or more goals each
17 of FCD’s 26 goals have been scored in the second half.
Portland has scored 16 goals on the road this year, with 12 of them coming in the second half.
Dallas is now 5-5-3 in its last thirteen matches across all competitions.
FC Dallas has yet to concede a goal from a free kick.
Petar Musa ranks 27th across MLS in xG (6.60) and the highest on FC Dallas.
Maarten Paes ranks number one overall in MLS in saves made with 87. Paes also ranks No. 4 in balls won (42).
Portland Goalkeeper James Pantemis is unbeaten in road appearances with a mark of 2-0-2.
Maarten Paes needs seven saves to tie his season-high total that he has reached in only 19 games so far (92 saves in 30 games in 2023).
Evander leads the Timbers in goals (9) and assists (11) through 17 matches played. He was selected an 2024 MLS All-Star.
Petar Musa has covered 115.70 miles (186.19 Km), the most by an FC Dallas player this season. He ranks 71st across MLS. Up until today, this stat was led by Sam Junqua.
Ema Twumasi reached the top speed of 21.93 MPH (35.29 Km), the fastest by an FC Dallas player and is the 28th fastest in MLS.
Timbers’ 39 goals scored this season ranks fifth most in MLS.
In the Timbers’ eight wins this season, Evander has contributed three game-winning goals and two game-winning assists.