FC Dallas begins its 2025 regular season in rival territory this weekend as they square off against the Houston Dynamo. This will mark the first time that the Texas Derby kicks off a regular season and the earliest regular season meeting between these two clubs to date.

Houston is coming into the new season with plenty of new faces for manager Ben Olsen to work with, including former FC Dallas backup keeper Jimmy Maurer (yeah, he pulled a Chris Seitz on us, didn’t he?).

Let’s dive into the Dynamo to see how the Orange will look this weekend and how FC Dallas can open up the season with some points and an early advantage in both the Texas Derby and Copa Tejas.

Key Player: Jack McGlynn

The former Philadelphia Union homegrown was one of the surprise additions this winter for Houston, marking one of the first cash trades done in league history. McGlynn will be tasked to fill the void in the midfield left by Coco Carrasquilla and Hector Herrera, both who departed the Bayou City over the offseason.

Key Matchup: Erik Dueñas vs Lucho Acosta

Of all of the moves Houston made this winter, Duenas is a very under-the-radar move that most will miss out on as being one of the better ones this winter. The former LAFC homegrown will be another new face in the lineup. He’ll likely be tasked with stopping or at least slowing down FCD’s newest DP, Lucho Acosta. I’d expect a cagey battle between these two.

Availability Report1:

Suspended: none
Out: Lawrence Ennali
Questionable: none
On Loan: Kieran Sargwant (Lexington), Jefferson Valverde (Orense)
International duty: none

Quick Notes:

Last year against FCD: FC Dallas won the season series, claiming El Capitan thanks to a 2-0 win at home before a 1-1 draw in Houston.

Last year’s record for the Orange: Houston finished the 2024 season with 54 points, which was good for 5th in the Western Conference and 8th overall in MLS.

Big names departed: If you thought the Dallas offseason saw a lot of big names leave the roster, Houston had arguably a similar situation this past winter. Hector Herrera was the first big name to depart as the club declined to bring back the Designated Player for another season. Coco Carrasquilla then departed for Mexico, Micael is reportedly heading to Brazil, and Sebastian Ferreira (another DP) left after a mutual agreement to separate.

Preseason wrap: The two sides met just a couple of weeks ago for a friendly in Frisco. While it ended in a draw, the Dynamo may be quick to point out that it was 2-1 after 75 minutes, where most of the expected starters for the two sides played.

Potential Lineup: Ben Olsen loves to run a possession-oriented in a similar 4-2-3-1 formation.

 Tarbell, Escobar, Steres, Sviatchenko, Dorsey; Artur, McGlynn; Aliyu, Bassi, Kowalczyk; Ponce

Keys To Three Points over Houston

  1. Work the counter attack: We’ve seen a bit in preseason play this year that Quill really wants his team to push up the field and be aggressive in the attacking third. But this could be a game where they are chasing the ball a good bit with how the Dynamo play in the possession game (they were the top team in MLS in 2024 in terms of possession). It may be a game that Dallas needs to work the counter attack after winning the ball in the midfield. The speed on the outside with Shaq Moore, Anderson Julio and others could be a key difference in this one.
  2. Let Acosta be himself: The new DP only got 30 minutes in preseason play with his new squad last weekend in Atlanta and that came without Petar Musa. I think once we can see Lucho Acosta and Musa on the same page, the better this group is going to be.  
  3. Limit stupid mistakes in the back: The newly rebuilt defense had some tough moments in preseason. They continued to give up some easy and bad goals around the penalty area. It will take some time for this group to gel and be on the same page as one another, but they have to find a way to limit bad turnovers in their defensive third.
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1 Note: MLS has a new injury report deadline that doesn’t hit until the day before each game. I will put last week’s report in these scouting reports and update where I can ahead of the weekly release from the league.