Orlando City at FC Dallas game info and lineup prediction

Papi’s back! FC Dallas legend Oscar Pareja returns to Toyota Stadium for the first time – in MLS play – since departing at the end of 2018.

This is a statement game. OCSC is a really good team and Pareja is much loved here. FCD circled this one on the calendar. It’s a gut check game. A measuring stick. We should find out just how good this FCD team really is.

Game Info

Fourth-place FC Dallas (5-3-4, 19 points) hosts second-place Orlando City SC (7-2-4, 25 points) tonight (Sunday, Sept. 27) at 7:30PM CT.

Gameday Social: #FCDvORL

TV: 7PM CT on FOX Sports Southwest, FCDTV Network

Streaming: 7PM CT on FOX Sports Go App, FOXSportsGo.com, FCDallas.com/Stream, ESPN+ (outside of the DFW market)

Radio: 7PM CT on FCDallas.com/Radio (English) and 1270AM (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)

FC Dallas Lineup Prediction

Coach Luchi Gonzalez rotated his squad at Sporting KC and at Atlanta United in order to get his roster rested and fit for this game against Orlando City. So expect Coach G to go for the big guns. He’s all in on this game and the Crew game next weekend.

Jimmy Maurer, yes. Reto Ziegler if he was able to train on Saturday will return and that looks to be the case. Matt Hedges, obviously. Ryan Hollingshead left and Bryan Reynolds right based on the dynamic play of that combo when healthy.

Thiago Santos is vital for his bite in midfield and Andres Ricaurte is the magician. Up top, Franco Jara and Michael Barrios are locks.

The two big questions are linking mid – where Tanner Tessmann has been strong in Bryan Acosta‘s absence – and left wing which has been a rotation of bodies. I expect Luchi to pick Santiago Mosquera and Bryan Acosta in those spots.

Why? Here are a couple reasons.

  • Both are DPs and among the four highest-paid players on the team.
  • If you are preaching production, Santi has 4 goals and Fafa Picault has 1.
  • Acosta is a prime of career World Cup veteran who was really starting to show prior to his injury/suspension. Tessmann is a 19-year-old kid and “play the kids” is DOA.
  • It’s possible Mosquera is in the shop window. He’s in his third season here now and the club needs to decide his future.

Note: I would pick Tessmann and Picault. So I hope this prediction is wrong for left wing and linking mid.

4-3-3 formation.

A predicted FC Dallas starting XI against Orlando City by Buzz Carrick for September 27, 2020.

Bench Prediction: Phelipe, Johnny Nelson, Bressan, Edwin Cerrillo, Fafa Picault, Jesus Ferreira, Brandon Servania, Tanner Tessmann, and Ricardo Pepi.

On with the show…

More Game Info, Stats, and Bits.

Óscar Pareja and Tesho Akindele return to Dallas. Pareja’s first homecoming actually came last year when FCD hosted his former team Club Tijuana of Liga MX in a friendly match.

Orlando City is the highest-scoring outfit in the Eastern Conference with 25 goals from 13 games. FC Dallas holds the second-best defensive record in the West with just 13 goals allowed from its first 12 outings.  

This will be the sixth time FC Dallas and Orlando City face off in MLS play. Dallas holds a 3-1-1 record (8 goals for, 2 against) against the Loons all-time. Wait, Lions. Against the Lions all-time. Sorry. Gotta keep these animal nicknames straight.

When playing at Toyota Stadium, FCD has a perfect 2-0-0 record with six goals scored and zero conceded.
 
Óscar Pareja has turned Orlando from a team that finished second to last in 2019 to a Supporters’ Shield contender in a matter of months. Orlando is currently on a three-game win streak and moved into second place in the East with a 2-1 victory over Sporting KC Wednesday night.

The Lions are unbeaten in seven games with their last loss coming back in August when they fell 3-2 to in-state rivals Inter Miami CF.

MLS Injury Report

ORLANDO CITY SC

  • OUT: Dom Dwyer – knee
  • OUT: Joao Moutinho – groin
  • OUT: Oriol Rosell – uhnknown

FC DALLAS

  • OUT: Paxton Pomykal – hip
  • OUT: Kyle Zobeck – groin

Suspended
Both – None

International duty
Both – None

Suspended after next caution
ORL – Joao Moutinho
FCD – None

Suspended after two cautionns
ORL: Ruan, Rodrigo Schlegel, Mauricio Pereyra
FCD: Michael Barrios

Officials
Referee: Ramy Touchan
AR1 (bench): Adam Garner
AR2 (opposite): Brian Poeschel
4th: Elijio Arreguin
VAR: Edvin Jurisevic
AVAR: Jonathan Johnson

Touchan MLS Career
30 games
FC/gm: 26.3
Y/gm: 4.0
R: 4
pens: 4

Team Leaders
FC DALLAS
G: 5 Jara
A: 3 Barrios
SHT: 18 Barrios
SOG: 10 Jara
FC: 25 Thiago Santos
FS: 32 Thiago Santos
OF: 4 Jara/Mosquera
C: 5 Thiago Santos
E: 1 Acosta

ORLANDO CITY
G: 7 Mueller
A: 5 Mueller
SHT: 27 Nani
SOG: 13 Mueller
FC: 27 Mendez
FS: 22 Urso
OF: 4 Ruan
C: 4 Moutinho/Pereyra
E: 0

Season Goal Leaders

FC DallasOrlando City
Franco Jara5Benji Michel4
Santiago Mosquera4Chris Mueller4
Ricardo Pepi2Daryl Dike3
Zdenek Ondrasek2Nani3
Júnior Urso2

Season Stats

FC DallasOrlando City
12Games Played13
5Wins7
3Losses2
4Draws4
19Goals25
13Goals Conceded15
101Shots113
53Shots on Target60
145Fouls committed175
152Fouls suffered160
13Offside20
55Corners61

CURRENT FC DALLAS GOALS
VS. ORLANDO CITY SC
Fafa Picault 4
Michael Barrios 1
Matt Hedges 1
Santiago Mosquera 1

CURRENT ORLANDO CITY GOALS
VS. FC DALLAS
Dom Dwyer 3
Tesho Akindele 1

FC Dallas has 11 different goal scorers in the 2020 season so far. Last season, FC Dallas had 15 different goal scorers. The most goal scorers FC Dallas has ever had in one season is 17, which has occurred on two occasions (2012, 2018).

FC Dallas (5-3-4) has a .917 winning percentage (5-0-1 record) when
scoring the first goal of the match and a 0-3-1 record (.125 winning
percentage) when conceding the first goal in 2020.

FCD’s Jimmy Maurer is tied for second in the league with a 0.77 goals against average (GAA). He is also tied for third in the league based on saves
percentage, saving 83.3% of the shots he’s faced (25 out of 30).

Since Sept. 2, FC Dallas has had 10 goals and four assists come from players
from South America.

This season, FC Dallas is tied for 12th in the league with 19 goals in 12 matches while Orlando City is tied for fourth in the league with 25 goals in
13 matches, including 10 goals on the road.

Both teams have scored most of their goals in the final 15 minutes of the match and are tied for third in the league with seven during that period.

Since the creation of the league back in 1996, FC Dallas has an overall record of 39-48-21 in the month of September with a 0.458 winning percentage. In matches played at home in Sept, FC Dallas has a 25-18-9 record and 0.567 winning percentage.

FC Dallas finished second in the league with 11,933 Academy product
minutes in the 2019 regular season. This season, FC Dallas’ Homegrowns
have played 2,752 minutes.

Last season, FC Dallas fielded 27 different lineups. This season, Luchi Gonzalez has played 10 different lineups in 12 matches only using the same lineup in the first two matches and back-to-back on Sept. 12 and 16.

Since 2015, FCD is 69-5-16 when scoring first.

Since 2015, FC Dallas has a 0.900 winning percentage and 71-3-11 when
scoring at least two goals.

LUCHI’S MONTHLY RECORD
Feb 1-0-0
Mar 3-1-2
April 2-1-1
May 0-4-1
June 2-1-2
July 2-1-1
Aug 4-3-3
Sept 3-4-3
Oct 1-0-0

Side note: I think next year I will make a Luchi t-shirt that says “May Sucks.”

50 FC DALLAS REGULAR SEASON APPEARANCES
Jesús Ferreira (44)
Paxton Pomykal (38)
Bryan Acosta (32)
Brandon Servania (26)

100 MLS APPEARANCES
Fafa Picault (98)

ASSISTS
Jason Kreis — 65
Oscar Pareja — 47
Mauro Diaz — 44
Michael Barrios — 42

PENALTY-KICK GOALS
Mauro Diaz — 10
Kenny Cooper — 9
Jorge Rodriguez — 7
Reto Ziegler — 7

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