The new season is here! FC Dallas begins their 2024 campaign on Saturday night as they host the San Jose Earthquakes.
The new season brings a ton of hope for fans, too. FC Dallas enters the third season under head coach Nico Estevez. The gaffer has spent much of the preseason working on a new attacking formation that could help turn a team that struggled in front of goal into one that could be very dangerous in 2024.
The team was also very busy in the offseason. While they only removed four players from last year’s roster, they brought in eight new players, including a record signing Designated Player, Croatian Petar Musa.
FC Dallas Notes:
Key player for FC Dallas: Dante Sealy - Based on his preseason alone, the season opener could be a great launching point for Sealy to continue to show the rest of the league what he is about in 2024.
FC Dallas in season openers: Since 1996, FC Dallas has a season opener record of 13-5-10. Last season, FC Dallas lost their first season opener in ten years in a 1-0 loss to Minnesota United.
Draw Derby: It is wild, but 11 of the last 13 games between these two teams have ended in a draw, including both meetings in 2023. The last FC Dallas win in this series goes back to August 2022, a 4-1 win at Toyota Stadium.
FC Dallas at home against San Jose: The all-time series against the Quakes, goes back to the early days of MLS when the clubs were named the Burn and the Clash. It has been a pretty evenly split series in Texas, with FC Dallas holding the edge by going 13-12-10 (45 goals scored, 47 goals conceded).
Missing DPs: While Petar Musa is healthy, his paperwork to come work in the US hasn’t arrived yet for this game. Thankfully, Estevez said on Thursday that he should arrive in Frisco sometime next week. Jesus Ferreira dealt with a groin injury throughout the preseason and isn’t available on Saturday, while Alan Velasco is still out with a long-term recovery on his ACL.
Potential Lineup:
We have discussed the potential lineup over the last week since the final preseason game. We’ll see the same group that started against DC this weekend in the new 3-4-2-1 formation.
Paes; Junqua, Tafari, Ibeagha; Sealy, Illarramendi, Fraser, Endeley; Arriola, Kamungo; Farrington
Disciplinary Report
Suspended: none
Suspended after next yellow: none
Availability Report
OUT: Marco Farfan - Lower back, Geovane Jesus - Right knee, Amet Korça - Left groin, Petar Musa - Not Due to Injury, Tsiki Ntsabeleng - Not Due to Injury, Alan Velasco - Left knee
QUESTIONABLE: Jesús Ferreira - Left thigh, Paxton Pomykal - Left knee
On Loan: Antonio Carerra (North Carolina FC)
International duty: none
San Jose Notes:
Key player for San Jose: Cristian Espinoza
We broke down San Jose and their potential MVP candidate in our scouting report:
Disciplinary Report
Suspended: none
Suspended on next yellow card: none
Availability Report
Out: Niko Tsakiris (groin), Amahl Pellegrino (visa issues), Bruno Wilson (visa issues)2
Questionable: Alfredo Morales (abductor)
Questionable: none
International duty: none
How to watch
📅 Date: Saturday, February 24, 2024
⚽️ Kickoff: 7:30 PM
🏟 Venue: Toyota Stadium
📺 Streaming: MLS Season Pass
💬 Gameday Social: #FCDvSJE
☀️ Weather: 65, sunny
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