Sixth-place FC Dallas (6-5-7, 25 points) hosts 10th-place Inter Miami CF (6-11-3, 21 points) tonight at 7:30PM CT at Toyota Stadium. It’s the first and only meeting between the teams this season.
Edit: For clarity sake… the FC Dallas game is at 7:30 pm as stated in the above paragraph. The FCD broadcast starts at 7 pm, see below.
Game Info
Gameday Social: #FCDvMIA
TV: 7:00PM on FOX Sports Southwest and the FCDTV Network
Streaming: 7:00PM CT on FCDallas.com/Stream, ESPN+ (outside of the DFW market)
Radio: 7PM CT on FCDallas.com/Radio (English) and1270AM (Spanish).
Fox Sports Southwest Channels
Spectrum Dallas: 320
Spectrum Fort Worth: 32 & 776 (HD)
DirecTV: 676 (Sometimes 676-1 or 676-2)
AT&T U-Verse: 757 & 1757 (HD)
Lineup Prediction
After a sub appearance last game, Matt Hedges should be ready to return to the starting lineup.
As I mentioned to my patrons, I wanted to see Reto Ziegler rested with Callum Montgomery in his place as a “light” rotation… and due to possible covid-19 exposure, Ziegler is out of the game and isolating.
But Luchi being Luchi, I am going to predict Bressan starts at left center back. Bressan is higher in the rotation and the player Luchi seems to trust more. I would prefer Montgomery to get some experience and see where he is in terms of progression.
Paxton Pomykal, Santiago Mosquera, and Bryan Acosta are all still listed as “out” with injuries so that makes some decisions easier.
And under the heading of “you’ve got to be kidding me,” with Acosta out I expect Jesus Ferreira to start at the 10. Luchi loves him some Jesus. Andres Ricaurte will be playing more like an 8 as he’s been trending of late. Perhaps you can call it a double “free-8” look depending on how it executes.
Nkosi Burgess and Eddie Munjoma will have to quarantine to return from North Texas SC now that the season is over but Thomas Roberts and Edwin Cerrillo are both immediately available.
Bench Prediction:
Phelipe
Callum Montgomery
Johnny Nelson
Brandon Servania
Thomas Roberts
Tanner Tessmann
Ricardo Pepi
Edwin Cerrillo
Ema Twumasi
On with the show…
More Game Info, Stats, and Bits
Brek Shea and Victor Ulloa played a combined 242 regular season games for FC Dallas. Ulloa, in particular, was among the first FC Dallas Academy graduates to establish themselves in the club’s first team, paving the way for the litany of Homegrown players we now see in FCD’s starting lineup week in and week out.
FC Dallas has conceded 20 goals in 18 games, good for second-best in the Western Conference. After a blip in Nashville last week that saw Dallas concede three, FCD’s backline returned to form against Real Salt Lake and earned its third shutout in its last six games.
Wednesday’s match could feature veteran Argentinian forwards on each team. Both Dallas’ Franco Jara and Inter’s Gonzalo Higuaín joined MLS in 2020 after prolific careers in foreign leagues. So far, Jara is FCD’s leading scorer with five goals and his counterpart has registered one goal and an assist since joining Miami from Juventus in the summer. Higuaín was suspended for his team’s last game but is eligible to return for Wednesday at Toyota Stadium.
This week’s matchup will be the first time FC Dallas faces off against Inter Miami CF in MLS play. Dallas has a 9-6-4 all-time record in first games against expansion sides and a 14-2-3 record against teams who are playing at Toyota Stadium for the first time.
Inter Miami had a tough start to life in MLS and registered just three wins over its first 15 games. Since then, however, the expansion side’s form has improved markedly and has earned three wins in its last five. Last time out, Miami earned a 2-1 victory over in-state rivals Orlando City SC.
FC Dallas
- Injury Report:
- OUT: Paxton Pomykal (M) – hip injury
- OUT: Santiago Mosquera (M) – undisclosed injury
- OUT: Bryan Acosta (M) – undisclosed injury
- Suspended: None
- Suspended after next caution: Bressan (D)
- Suspended After Two Yellow Cards: Thiago Santos, Reto Ziegler, Franco Jara
- International duty: None
Inter Miami
- Injury Report:
- OUT: George Acosta (M) – left knee injury
- OUT: David Norman Jr (M) – left ankle injury
- OUT: Denso Ulysse (D) – left lower leg injury
- OUT: Luis Robles (GK) – fractured left arm
- Suspended: None
- Suspended after next caution: Leandro Gonzalez Pirez (D), Andres Reyes (D)
- Suspended After Two Yellow Cards: Nicolas Figal, Rodolfo Pizarro, Wil Trapp
- International duty: None
Series Matchup at FC Dallas
This is the first all-time meeting between FC Dallas and Inter Miami CF
Officials
REFEREE: Victor Rivas.
AR1 (bench): Adam Garner;
AR2 (opposite): Chris Elliott;
4th: Elijio Arreguin;
VAR: Malik
Badawi;
AVAR: Jonathan Johnson
Rivas MLS Career:
14 games;
FC/gm: 26.1;
Y/gm: 4.2;
R: 3;
pens: 8
Team Leaders
FC DALLAS
G: 5 Jara
A: 3 Barrios
SHT: 28 Barrios/Jara
SOG: 15 Jara
FC: 35 Thiago Santos
FS: 39 Thiago Santos
OF: 8 Jara
C: 6 Thiago Santos
E: 1 Acosta
INTER MIAMI
G: 5 Morgan
A: 7 Morgan
SHT: 47 Morgan
SOG: 15 Morgan
FC: 25 Matuidi
FS: 48 Pizarro
OF: 8 Robinson
C: 7 Gonzalez/Reyes
E: 1 4 players tied
CURRENT FC DALLAS GOALS
VS. INTER MIAMI CF
None, obviously.
CURRENT INTER MIAMI CF GOALS
VS. FC DALLAS
Juan Agudelo – 4
Federico Higuain – 1
A.J. DeLaGarza – 1
Leandro Gonzalez Pirez – 1
Season Goal Leaders
| FC Dallas | Inter Miami | ||
| Franco Jara | 5 | Lewis Morgan | 5 |
| Santiago Mosquera | 4 | Brek Shea | 4 |
| Ryan Hollingshead | 2 | Rodolfo Pizarro | 2 |
| Ricardo Pepi | 2 | Juan Agudelo | 2 |
| Reto Ziegler | 2 | Julián Carranza | 2 |
| Kobra | 2 |
Season Stats
| FC Dallas | Inter Miami | |
| 18 | Games Played | 20 |
| 6 | Wins | 6 |
| 5 | Losses | 11 |
| 7 | Draws | 3 |
| 22 | Goals | 21 |
| 20 | Goals Conceded | 30 |
| 168 | Shots | 183 |
| 79 | Shots on Target | 81 |
| 216 | Fouls committed | 289 |
| 227 | Fouls suffered | 291 |
| 24 | Offside | 44 |
| 93 | Corners | 104 |
FC Dallas gained a fourth result in the last six games with a third draw in that span, playing to a goalless draw with Real Salt Lake at Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday evening.
Jimmy Maurer was credited with three saves in recording his fifth shutout of the season.
Five shutouts is a single-season career-high for Jimmy Maurer, in his 13th appearance; he had four shutouts in 13 starts in 2018.
Inter Miami CF gained a result for a fourth time in the last five games with a third win in that time, with a dramatic 2-1 win against Orlando City SC at Inter Miami CF Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Leandro González Pire netted his first goal of the season and his first for Inter Miami for the game-winner in the 89th minute.
Lewis Morgan recorded his seventh assist of the season, his fifth in the last nine games. The seven assists are tied for fifth in MLS this season.
This season, FC Dallas is tied for 19th in the league with 22 goals in 18 matches while Inter Miami is tied for 22nd with 21 goals in 20 matches, including nine goals scored at home.
Thiago Santos leads the league with 153 duels won.
FC Dallas is tied for sixth in the league and second in the Western Conference with 20 goals conceded (1.11 GAA) in 2020. Inter Miami is tied
for 16th in the league with 30 goals allowed in 20 matches (1.50 GAA).
FC Dallas (6-4-6) has a 0.875 winning percentage (6-0-2 record) when scoring the first goal of the match and a 0-5-1 record (0.083 winning percentage) when conceding the first goal in 2020.
Since 2015, FCD is 70-5-17 when scoring first.
Since 2015, FC Dallas has a 0.895 winning percentage and 71-3-12 when
scoring at least two goals
FC Dallas has a 3-3-0 record and 0.500 winning percentage in games decided by one goal, while Inter Miami is 6-9-0 (.400 winning percentage) in matches decided by one goal.
FCD’s Jimmy Maurer is sixth in the league with a 0.96 goals against average (GAA), while Inter Miami’s John McCarthy has started in the past five matches and recorded a 3-1-1 record (1.00 GAA).
Maurer also ranks second among goalkeepers with more than 10 appearances with a 78.6 saves percentage, saving 44 out of 56 shots faced, and has recorded five shutouts this season.
According to Opta, FC Dallas has lost only one of their last 21 home MLS
matches (12-1-8) dating back to May 2019. FC Dallas currently has a seven-match unbeaten streak (4-0-3).
FC Dallas will play eight regular-season matches in October, the most
the team will play in FCD history.
Dallas played seven matches in September for the first time in team history and ended with a 3-2-2 record. It was the fifth time overall that FC Dallas had seven matches in a month(previous times were July 1996, June 2000, May 2011, May 2014).
When Michael Barrios scores or assists, FC Dallas is 37-9-10 in regular-season league games. FC Dallas is 19-3-4 when Barrios scores.
PENALTY-KICK GOALS
Mauro Diaz — 10
Kenny Cooper — 9
Reto Ziegler — 8
Jorge Rodriguez — 7
ASSISTS
Jason Kreis — 65
Oscar Pareja — 47
Mauro Diaz — 44
Michael Barrios — 42
Diego Alonso vs. FC Dallas
Inter Miami manager Diego Alonso previously defeated FC Dallas 4-3 on aggregate in the semifinals of the 2017 Concacaf Champions League while managing C.F. Pachuca.
Inter Miami enters the match as the most fouled team in MLS, while Rodolfo Pizarro is the second-most fouled player on an individual level.