12th in the West FC Dallas (12 points, 3-6-3) hosts Top of the West Real Salt Lake (28 points, 8-2-4) at Toyota Stadium at 7:30 pm.
Yes, RSL is good. They have lost just two games all year; but the road record is, of course, not the same as home at just 3-1-3.
FCD is kicking off a tough stretch over the next four: vs RSL, at LAG, at LAFC, at MNUFC. Is the current form real? We’re about to find out.
Broadcast Info
TV: Free on Apple TV and as normal on 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, Steve Davis, and Mark Dodd are on the call. Pregame at 7 pm with Sam Hale.
Spanish Radio: FC Dallas app with Carlos Alvarado and Rafa Calderon.
MLS Injury/Player Availability Report
FC Dallas
Geovane Jesus – Knee (Out)
Paxton Pomykal – Knee (Out)
Alan Velasco – Knee (Out)
Jesús Ferreira – Thigh (Questionable)
Real Salt Lake
Kevin Bonilla – Knee (Out) <–DTID
Erik Holt – Hamstring (Out)
Pablo Ruiz – Knee (Out)
Marcelo Silva – Hamstring (Out)
Bode Hidalgo – Hamstring (Questionable)
Bryan Vera – Back (Questionable)
Discipline Report
Suspended
None
Suspended on Next Yellow
FC Dallas: None
RSL: Alex Katranis (RSL), Matt Crooks (RSL), Chukwuemeka Eneli (RSL), Cristian Arango (RSL), Andrés Gómez (RSL)
FCD Lineup Prediction
Coach Nico Estevez still has some choices to make even with the injury list as short as it’s been in a while. So let’s walk through them.
Sebastian Lletget, unless he had a setback, played 60 minutes so I think he can go. Jesus Ferreira seems not worth risking having come off early even though we hear he trained on Friday so that’s an easy replacement with Lletget.
With Asier Illarramendi playing 30 minutes on Wednesday it might be too early to bring him back in the XI. The 60-minute on-the-dot sub out on Wednesday of Patrickson Delgado and Herbert Endeley seems calculated with this weekend in mind. Liam Fraser is off the injured list but we haven’t seen him get minutes yet post-injury. Ema Twumasi, even though cleared won’t start I don’t think via the usual policy of needing to come off the bench.
This leaves Nolan Norris and Delgado in the double pivot, Endeley at right back.
On the off chance Seba Ibeagha subbed off late for an injury, Omar Gonzalez central with Nkosi Tafari right is an option as is the straight swap of Carl Sainte for Ibby.
Bench Prediction
Jimmy Maurer
Dante Sealy
Carl Sainte
Asier Illaramendi
Liam Fraser
Jesus Ferreira
Omar Gonzalez
Logan Farrington
Eugene Ansah
MLS Kit Assignments
Officials
REFEREE: Abdou Ndiaye
ASSISTANT REFEREES: Cory Richardson, Andrew Bigelow
4TH OFFICIAL: Ismail Elfath
VAR: Fotis Bazakos, Claudiu Badea
More Game Info
- FCD record: 3-6-3 (12 points, 12th in West)
- RSL record: 8-2-4 (28 points, 1st in West)
- FCD vs. RSL all-time: 23-14-11 (72 goals scored, 56 goals conceded)
- FCD vs. RSL home: 14-2-6 (40 goals scored, 19 goals conceded)
Jason Kreis holds one of my favorite records of all time, he scored the first goal in franchise history for both FC Dallas and Real Salt Lake. Scoring the first goal in the history of two franchises sure feels like an unbreakable record.
FC Dallas is 2-5-0 in games decided by one goal.
FC Dallas is 1-5-1 when conceding first and has won 4 points from losing positions in MLS.
Eight of twelve FCD goals have been scored in the second half.
Dallas has scored seven goals in the past five games.
FC Dallas had a record of 0-4-1 when trailing at halftime.
Dallas is now 3-1-1 in its last five matches across all competitions.
Chicho Arango is one goal from joining the 50 goals in 77 games club in MLS. He’s also 2 assists from a 10/10 season and 4 goals from the RSL best single-season mark (17)
During the current MLS run, RSL has outscored opponents 22-9, scored first in six of the 10 matches and scored five game-winning goals in the final 15 minutes of matches.
RSL’s active 10-game MLS unbeaten run is the second-longest single-season streak and the Club’s fourth-longest overall in RSL’s 20-season history.
RSL has four clean sheets in its last seven matches, allowing just six goals over that span.
2024 GAMES MISSED DUE TO INJURY
| Player | Games | Weeks |
|---|---|---|
| Paul Arriola | 2 | 5/11- |
| Marco Farfan | 8 | 2/24-4/20 |
| Jesús Ferreira | 5 | 2/24, 3/30-4/20 |
| Liam Fraser | 1 | 5/18- |
| Sebastien Ibeagha | 2 | 3/2-3/9 |
| Asier Illarramendi | 5 | 3/9-4/6, 5/18 |
| Geovane Jesus | 11 | 2/24- |
| Amet Korça | 6 | 2/24-3/9, 5/4- |
| Logan Farrington | 1 | 3/16 |
| Sebastian Lletget | 3 | 4/27-5/11 |
| Paxton Pomykal | 10 | 2/24, 3/9- |
| Alan Velasco | 11 | 2/24- |
why was Eugene ansah not included in Nico’s matchday squad?? I was expecting him on the bench.
No clue, I was expecting him too.
Coaches selection I guess.
Please go into academy talk on the podcast. You mentioned in the last episode that nobody wanted to listen to that. I, for one, do. Our academy is one of the great things about our team and the Texas soccer scene.
I know there are some people, but it’s a low percentage. But given how bad the first team is maybe we should do more.