FC Dallas gets their first taste of a rivalry game this season as they host Sporting Kansas City at Toyota Stadium on Saturday evening.

Sporting KC enters this weekend with a winless record (0-1-2) with no goals given up and no goals scored. Their last trip to Dallas saw FCD win 2-1 on Decision Day last season, which helped secure FCD’s third-place finish in the Western Conference.

Key Player: Daniel Salloi

The Sporting team Golden Boot winner and MVP candidate has always shown well against FC Dallas over the years (six goals and two assists). Given the injuries Sporting has at the moment in their attack, Salloi will once again be the key guy they’ll count on in generating chances in front of goal.

Key Matchup: Alan Velasco/Paul Arriola vs Graham Zusi

No matter who goes up against the veteran Zusi this weekend, it needs to be a point of focus on passing lanes behind him in space to allow Arriola and Velasco’s speed to be the difference. The Sporting veteran doesn’t have the same speed he once did from his earlier days in MLS, but he still is very capable of sniffing out an attack in his area.

Quick Notes:

Shots, shots, shots - Sporting has opened up the new season with a ton of shots in their first three matches. They currently lead MLS in total shots and shots on goal. In total, they’ve had 58 shots overall (30 in their match last week against LA!), with 26 of those coming on target. The only thing missing for them has been finding the back of the net, which they’ve come up empty in their first three matches.

League-leading - Midfielder Erik Thommy leads MLS in shots (17) and shots on target (10), while forward Daniel Salloi ranks second in both categories with 14 shots and seven shots on goal. Thommy leads MLS with 11 chances created, while Salloi is tied for third with nine.

Goal drought history - Sporting have gone three straight regular season matches without scoring. The club has gone four matches without scoring in a single season twice previously (2000 and 2009).

Defensively improved - Sporting’s 0.33 goals against average is tied for second-best in the league, while the team ranks tied for seventh in MLS for limiting their opponents to just 9.33 shots per match.

Remi Walter Ironman - The Sporting midfielder has an impressive ironman streak dating back to September 2021. Walter’s active 45-match streak of successive starts ranks third among field players, only trailing Philadelphia Union center back Jakob Glesnes (76) and Columbus Crew midfielder Darlington Nagbe (70).

Potential Lineup:

Vermes tends to always stick with a 4-3-3 that loves to press high.

Pulskamp; Leibold, Fontas, Voloder, Zusi; Thommy, Walter, Espinoza; Salloi, Agenda, Shelton

Keys To Three Points over Sporting KC

  1. Find the passing lanes by handling the press - Sporting loves to press, but with that press does come some open passing lanes. Think back to the win over the LA Galaxy two weeks ago. The Galaxy pressed early in the match for turnovers in the Dallas defensive end, but it was the quick transitions in space that allowed the Dallas attack to spring forward and get chances on goal. This game will be very similar in that Sporting will look to dictate the tempo of this match and continue to create loads of shot chances as they did in their previous match.

  2. Find Ferreira more often - While we don’t want Jesus Ferreira tracking back into the defensive area to get the ball throughout the entire game, we do want to see him on the ball in a more progressive stance.

    By finding Ferreira open the attack around the penalty area, Dallas is able to get more chances on goal. I know that is kind of a ‘duh’ statement, but there are times when we don’t see that enough in games.

  3. Put them away - I think it goes without saying, but when Dallas is able to pile on the goals and not defend for 80+ minutes, as we saw in Vancouver, things tend to work out pretty well for them. I know scoring early is always a nice luxury, but this team still needs to find a way to score early and then score often.