The final two months are upon us as the calendar has turned to September. We have hit the true point in the regular season that will determine if see the playoffs again or if we'll end up with another early off-season for the second year in a row in Frisco.
The schedule this month is fairly balanced with four games, two at home and two on the road. Let's dive into the four matches and discuss the needed outcome from this set of games.
St. Louis CITY SC - away - September 6
The big month gets kicked off this weekend on the road in St. Louis. The Gateway City club dropped a home game this past weekend at home against Houston, so FC Dallas has to hope that trend can continue. FC Dallas has yet to win at St. Louis in all competitions, so this will be a make-or-break kind of game. A win here, you can start talking about some momentum. A loss or draw, and boy, the playoff chances take a big hit.
Austin FC - home - September 13
We know Copa Tejas is out the window after the draw in Austin last month. But, this one needs to be all about pride in this rivalry. Get the win, set the tone for the rest of the season with it.
This story is available for free to everyone, no subscription required. If you’d like to support us but don’t want to commit to a full subscription, you can leave us a tip of any amount (this helps keep our coffee/beer mugs full).
Colorado Rapids - home - September 20
It seems like a season ago when we last saw FC Dallas take on Colorado. That week two match was a wild 3-3 draw, that saw a very different FC Dallas squad look good with Lucho Acosta. Things have changed as we all know, but things have also changed for Colorado as well.
Portland Timbers - away - September 27
The final match of the month sees FC Dallas go west to Portland. If we're going into this one with a couple of wins, the momentum could be ripe for a good visit to Oregon. This feels like the one game this month that a draw would be a good result.
Outlook
You can't see it all on the schedule since I'm not talking about October just yet, but three out of the final four matches are away from home. That is going to be a tough hill for this FC Dallas team to climb if they aren't able to get at least six points from the two home games in September.
FC Dallas can no longer afford to pick up draws at Toyota Stadium, it is truly win or bust. The road trips this month are doable but they can't take anything for granted.
FC Dallas starts this month with 30 points. My gut tells me we're looking at six points in this month, even though this group needs to get at least eight to stay in the thick of things going into October.
What do you think is a reasonable tally for this group in September? Let's discuss it below.
