FC Dallas will host their first midweek matchup of the 2023 season tomorrow night as they welcome the Vancouver Whitecaps to Toyota Stadium.

This game comes at a weird time in the schedule as both teams are in the middle of Rivalry Week matches. Dallas played at Austin last weekend and will host Houston on Saturday, while the Whitecaps played at Portland last weekend and will host Seattle this weekend.

Vancouver is looking to bounce back after losing to the Timbers 3-1.

Key Player: Julian Gressel

As an outside back turned right-sided No. 8, Gressel does so well at baiting the defense with quick passes before going on a long overlapping run down the wings. If he gets enough space, he’ll find a cross into the penalty box that will test the Dallas defense. Stopping those runs and limiting his space on the wings will go a long way in keeping the Whitecaps off the board in this one.

Key Matchup: Sergio Cordova/Brain White vs FC Dallas’ center backs

We highlighted this potential matchup earlier this season when the two sides met, and it still stands today. Both Cordova and White are clinical attackers that find ways to get space behind defenders in the penalty box. We’d expect this to be another game where Nico Estevez starts Nksoi Tafari and Sebastian Ibeagha together, as both showed well in the previous match against the Whitecaps and their attackers.

Big D Soccer
Serving up all the FC Dallas news, opinions and coverage all day long.

Availability Report:

Suspended: none
Out: none
Questionable: none
On Loan: Caio Alexandre (Fortaleza EC)
International duty: none

Quick Notes:

On our last episode - The two sides met on Matchday 3 in Vancouver, with the game ending in a 1-1 draw after a Paul Arriola own goal. Sebastian Ibeagha scored his first goal with FC Dallas on an assist from fellow center back Nksoi Tafari.

Recent success against FCD - The Whitecaps are unbeaten in their last five matches at FC Dallas (W2 D3) after losing each of their first eight away matches in the series. This run equals Vancouver's longest road unbeaten run against any opponent in the club's MLS history (5 straight at Colorado from 2017—21).

Recent road woes - The Whitecaps are winless in 13 straight road MLS matches (D7 L6), the second-longest active winless run away from home in MLS (San Jose – 14 straight). The last time the Whitecaps picked up three points away from home was last June in a 2-0 win over FC Dallas.

Potential Lineup:

The Whitecaps have been using a 4-3-3 look in recent games, including the loss last weekend in Portland. Given the health of their roster, though, they may not rotate as much as FC Dallas will have to.

Takaoka; Brown, Veselinović, Blackmon, Martins; Gressel, Cubas, Schöpf; Vite; White, Gauld

Keys To Three Points over Vancouver

  1. Limit their width - Vancouver does a good job of spreading teams out in their attacking third of the field. If you limit what they’re able to do on the wings, it will keep their attack at bay. Over the weekend, Portland did enough to limit what the Caps could do on the wings, and they came out with a 3-1 victory for their efforts.
  2. Control the tempo - Both teams are going to be a bit gassed by the end of this one since each has had midweek matches in the last couple of weeks to go along with their regular weekend games. For Dallas, they have to maintain composure and dictate the tempo of this game with their patience in their build-up play. When things worked really well last weekend in Austin, it was due to controlling the tempo and limiting what Austin could do in their attacking third. It will be the same against Vancouver on Wednesday night.
  3. Putting them away - This was something Estevez heavily stressed on Monday when talking to the media. Vancouver is a team that is never really out of a game, and if you find a way to score one, you have to quickly find a second and third to kill them off in a game. Dallas needs a game like that where they can find a goal early and then continue to pile on as the game goes on.