Behind Enemy Lines: Scouting LAFC 🔎

FC Dallas is looking to end a three-game losing streak this weekend when they take on LAFC, a team that they’ve never beaten in California.

LAFC saw their game at Austin last weekend get postponed due to the terrible flooding in the area. Resources and organizations to donate to can be found here. They’ll take on the Colorado Rapids tonight in a league match.

Let's dive into what LAFC bring to Saturday’s game and how FC Dallas can continue to pick up points away from home.

Key Player: Denis Bouanga

We’ve already seen how good Bouanga is against FC Dallas over the years. He’s scored big goals in games against us and so far this season, he’s at it again with eight goals and four assists.

I thought it would be interesting to stack him up against Petar Musa ahead of Saturday’s game.

The big difference between the two is how well Bouanga has been at getting into the penalty area both with the ball at his feet and receiving the ball inside the penalty area. It is good to see Musa’s shot percentage compared to Bouanga, though. FC Dallas needs more of Musa inside the penalty area in a game like this one.

Key Matchup: Aaron Long vs Petar Musa

I get the urge to put Nkosi Tafari here but Kos has only appeared in eight matches with LAFC this season, while Long has been a mainstay in their central defense. These two had some solid battles in their two meetings last year and I would expect more this weekend.

Availability Report1:

Suspended: none
Out: Max Chanot (head)
Questionable: none
On Loan: Luca Bombino
International duty: none

Quick Notes:

All-time vs FC Dallas: LAFC has a strong 6-4-2 record in all-time matches against FC Dallas, including an unbeaten home streak of 5-0-1 at BMO Stadium.

Last year vs FC Dallas: The two clubs split their season series last year, with LAFC picking up a 1-0 win at home before FC Dallas returned the favor in Frisco with a 3-1 win.

Recent form: LAFC only had two league matches in the month of June, where they went 1-1-0. They also 0-2-1 in the FIFA Club World Cup last month. As of this writing, LAFC is 2-1-2 in their last five league matches.

Comparing the two sides: It is a bit staggering to see how much better LAFC is in their possession, attack and defense. After last week’s loss to Minnesota, I’m more concerned with how FC Dallas handles LAFC’s set pieces.

Potential Lineup:

Given LAFC’s midweek game, there is a solid chance we’ll see some rotation out of Steve Cherundolo’s club.

Ochoa, Hollingshead, Long, Segura, Palencia; Tillman, Amaya, Jesus; Bouanga, Eboboisse, Martinez

Keys To Three Points over LAFC

1. Play for those counter attacks: We know LAFC is going to want the ball and will likely possess it for the bulk of this match. It will likely come down to those few moments on the counter attacks that will help FC Dallas in a game like this one. We saw in other road matches, like in Miami, that if Dallas remains patient in the middle third of the field, they can surprise people with their speed up front.
2. Limit those set pieces: We haven’t talked a lot about giving up set piece goals this season but after the loss to Minnesota, it appears to be a concern again. LAFC does very well at earning set pieces and finishing them, too.
3. Don’t allow Bouanga to beat you: I mentioned it above in how good he is at getting into the penalty box on his own. The weird thing about this LAFC team is that if you limit Bouanga from getting into the penalty area, they struggle a bit at finding chances for other players in and around the 18-yard box. They possess the ball well (top four in MLS) but do struggle at times at getting the ball into dangerous positions (13th out of 30 in passes into the penalty area).

1 Note: MLS has a injury report deadline that doesn’t hit until the day before each game. Our scouting reports will include last week's report and will be fully updated the day before with our injury report for FC Dallas.