FC Dallas hits the road for the first time in the 2024 season as they take on the New York Red Bulls on Saturday night in New Jersey.

The Red Bulls are fresh off a 2-1 win last weekend over the Houston Dynamo, while FC Dallas is searching for its first road win since a Decision Day blowout win in 2023 over the LA Galaxy.

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Key Player: Lewis Morgan

While Emil Forsberg will get all the headlines (and rightfully so), Morgan is one of the more dangerous players on the Red Bull’s roster when healthy. He scored his first goal since the 2022 season last weekend and appears to back to his old self.

Key Matchup: Emil Forsberg vs Liam Fraser

We don’t know if Asier Illarramendi will be healthy enough to play the full 90 in this one, but Fraser will likely have to clog up the passing lanes in the attack when Forsberg has the ball. If Forsberg gets going in his home debut, it will be a long evening for FC Dallas.

Availability Report1:

Suspended: none
Out: Ryan Meara - Groin, Serge Ngoma - Hamstring, Curtis Ofori - Ankle
Questionable: Cory Burke - Groin, Kyle Duncan - Hamstring, John Tolkin - Groin
On Loan: none
International duty: none

Quick Notes:

Recent run against FC Dallas: The Red Bulls have a commanding lead in the all-time series between these two clubs, going 26-17-7 against FC Dallas. The two clubs haven’t played each other a lot in recent seasons due to the league expansion. The last meeting was a 0-0 draw in 2022 when they squared off at Red Bull Arena.

Home fortress: Since Red Bull Arena opened in 2010, the Red Bulls have the second most wins (133) and are tied for the most points at home (450) in MLS2.

New man in charge: Sandro Schwarz joins New York after 13 years of coaching experience in Europe, which included stints at FC Eschborn, FSV Mainz 05, Dynamo Moscow, and Hertha Berlin SC. He was hired at the end of 2023.

Potential Lineup:

Schwarz has used a 4-4-2 formation that still emphasizes the high press.

Coronel, Eile, S. Nealis, D. Nealis, Duncan; Forsberg, Amaya, Edelman, Morgan; Manoel, Vanzeir

Keys To Three Points over New York

  1. Withstand the press - We know the Red Bulls will come after things with their high-energy press. It is the Red Bull way, after all. Schwarz is taming things a bit to have his club become more possession-oriented in 2024. FC Dallas will need to be wise on the ball and limit their turnovers in the midfield. The less you can give away to their press, the better.
  2. Limit Forsberg - While Morgan will try to take some of the focus off the Swedish international, the Red Bulls will likely want to flow everything through him in the attack. His playmaking abilities make him a constant threat in their attack, so limiting his time on the ball will be valuable to pick up some points in this match.
  3. Feed the Moose - Petar Musa gets his first taste of road life in MLS, which is a good venue for that. The chemistry with the Croatian international was not great in his debut last week, but there were signs of what he can do on and off the ball that FC Dallas will want to explore more in this one. The Red Bulls have a stout defense, especially in the air, but they haven’t dealt as much with a guy of Musa’s size in a while. FC Dallas needs to put pressure on their defense with some spots in the penalty box for Musa.

  1. Note: MLS has a new injury report deadline doesn’t hit until the Friday before each game. I will put last week’s report in these scouting reports and update where I can ahead of Friday's release from the league. ↩

  2. Weirdly enough, they’re currently tied with FC Dallas. ↩