FC Dallas is looking to lock up the Copa Tejas crown for 2026 this weekend when they host Austin FC. The two sides met last month at Q2 Stadium, with FC Dallas coming away with a 2-1 win.
Just as we’ve done in previous years before a game with Austin FC, we welcome Phil West of Verde All Day to help give you all a quick preview of this in-state battle.
Let’s dive in:
BDS: Austin has been on a bit of a ride since our last meeting, going 3-0-3 in that span. They also completed the Cascadia trifecta with wins in Portland, Seattle and most recently in Vancouver. Those were also the first road wins of the season. What has been the difference over the last month in this group?
VAD: To hear interim head coach Davy Arnaud tell it, it's the players' buy-in, embracing the new system he's instituted — that, on its face, is quite weird: Three center backs (though some of the players playing center backs are actually fullbacks), and two inverted fullbacks, each playing with their stronger foot on the inside rather than the outside. Six unbeaten is nothing to sniff at, though two of those were home draws (against San Jose and Colorado) that players and fans felt could have and should have been wins.
It's been a weird run, as much of it has happened without Myrto Uzuni, who has arguably been the team's best field player this season but has been struggling with a calf injury over the last weeks. That was cryptically dubbed a "lower body" injury before I asked in a press conference, "What part of the lower body?" (For comparison, Jon Bell was out for several weeks with a "pubis" and did not get to hide that behind "lower body" as he might have preferred.)
Also, Facundo Torres, who went through a 10-match stretch earlier this season with just one goal contribution (an assist) in 720 minutes, now has a goal contribution every 113 minutes in his most recent 10, with three goals and three assists. You rightly highlighted him as key in your preview.
Drew Epperley
BDS: Like Dallas, Austin sat fairly quiet in the summer transfer window this year. You primarily saw guys leave with only one notable newcomer in Chris Applewhite. Did Austin do enough in the window to improve, or was sitting back a bit more the right call?
VAD: Getting more players in would have likely helped Verde with the currently thin roster, as the club moved Owen Wolff and Jayden Nelson out during this window (to SKC and Bolton respectively) following booting sporting director Rodolfo Borrell, leaving Davy Arnaud and a few select sporting department employees, including former player Ethan Finlay, to be a sporting director committee throughout this summer window.
On reflection, this window appears to have been all about amassing GAM for newly arrived sporting director Khaled El-Ahmad, who I expect to work closely with head-coach-in-waiting Jim Curtin to remake the team in 2027. The biggest roster moves Austin made after the break were to give Ervin Torres and Jorge Alastuey — who started the season as Austin FC II mainstays — more of a role in the first-team midfield. Alastuey's unusual in that he occupies a supplemental plus international spot on the roster, whereas Ervin Torres came up from the academy ranks and looks like a future U22 and a possible star.
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BDS: Austin sits one point shy of a playoff spot (boy, how weird is the West right now?). What does Austin need to do with their remaining schedule to get out of the bottom of the conference and into a playoff spot? Is it going to come down to a Decision Day match for them?
VAD: Let me introduce you to the concept of High-Value Games. Austin has four remaining against teams that are in the 1.18 to 1.50 points per game (PPG) range — what the originator claims is within a playoff bubble, given that the midpoint of 1.34 PPG marks where the playoff line typically ends up. Those matches are Sept. 26 hosting San Diego ... and then the last three matches of the season, hosting RSL, going to the Galaxy, and hosting Portland. So, yes, there's a very real chance that Austin's finally in a Decision Day that matters! (They've either been decisively in or out of the playoffs the prior five seasons.)
That said, I feel like Verde's going to just miss the playoffs, as there are still a few teams to leapfrog, and with a couple of the teams around Austin have games in hand, so it's not quite as close as it currently looks. But getting a win in Vancouver was huge, especially given how dominant the Whitecaps were in all ways but the scoreboard ways. My scenario: Verde need a win against the Timbers and help, and get the win, but don't get the help. (But I'd love to be proven wrong in this instance.)
