Match Preview - FC Dallas
Game Info
Kickoff: 7:40pm CT
Watch: Apple TV
Location: Q2 Stadium - Austin, TX
All-Time H2H Record
Austin FC has an all-time record of 3W-6L-2D against FC Dallas.
The Verde & Black won the first meeting between the two rivals in March of this season in comeback fashion at Q2 Stadium by a 2-1 scoreline. FC Dallas took the rematch in Frisco in May, also a 2-1 result. Based on the Copa Tejas results to this point of the year, this match is a “winner take all” scenario for the fan-run competition. A victory for either side would clinch the cup, with a draw also signifying an Austin FC three-peat. A win on Wednesday in Frisco would be Austin FC’s first at Toyota Stadium.
FC Dallas Recent Form
This is the third and final meeting between these two rivals in the 2024 regular season and FC Dallas has been on a roll since they defeated Austin FC back on May 11. They’ve won four of their last seven league matches and as we discussed on Episode 159, now just four points back of Austin FC in the Western Conference standings. In addition to being the Copa Tejas deciding match, this game is a true “six-pointer” in the playoff hunt.
FC Dallas has played a similar style to the Verde & Black so far this season when it comes to how they progress the ball up the pitch. To put it nicely, they fall more on the measured and conservative side of things. Their direct speed of play, which is the number of open play sequences that start just inside the team’s own half and has at least 50% of movement towards the opposition’s goal and ends in a shot or a touch in the opposition box (it’s a mouthful), is only one of three teams “slower” in MLS than Austin, per Opta. On the defensive side of the ball, Frisco should allow Austin to possess the ball a bit more freely if they so choose compared to some of the more recent opponents in Sporting KC, NYCFC and Seattle Sounders. That didn’t matter much last time these two teams crossed paths, with two giveaways at the back leading to each of the FC Dallas goals.
We talked about the injury issues that Frisco has faced this season in each of the previous two match preview articles. While the results have improved, the injury report is still lengthy. Jesus Ferreira is currently dealing with a hip injury that has kept him out for the last five games. But things aren’t all bad. They are expecting the return of designated player Alan Velasco before too long and if both he and Ferreira can stay healthy, this team has positioned itself to be quite a nuisance in the wild card race over the final third of the season.
Things went about as well as Dallas fans could have imagined on Saturday. Not only did they shut out the LA Galaxy 2-0, but they were able to sub out DP striker Petar Musa (who is on yellow card accumulation warning) at the half. Outside of the absences that are already confirmed prior to match day, I expect to see a full strength lineup from our rivals on Wednesday night.
Austin’s Recent Form
By the time this double game week is all said and done at Q2 Stadium on Saturday, it’s going to feel like much longer than an eight-day span. We’re coming off of a home loss that included,
A plane circling the pitch for an hour during pregame warmups carrying a message calling for head coach Josh Wolff to be fired.
Q2 Stadium security upsetting multiple sections of the North End in their entirety due to their treatment of some of the club’s most valuable fans during the first half.
Midgame chants from the supporter’s section after Austin FC went down a goal and then a man, again calling for Wolff’s job.
With a cloud of negativity shrouding the fan experience from over the weekend, Austin sits tied for ninth place on points and tenth on goal differential tie breaker in the Western Conference with Minnesota United and a point back of eighth seeded Houston. Wednesday’s match is the final outing before summer transfer window additions Osman Bukari and Mikkel Desler can play for the first time since being signed months ago. A result in the midweek would return the Verde & Black to central Texas with the Copa Tejas in tow and a possible new wave of optimism for fans to grasp headed into the Leagues Cup break. They’ll have to do it without the services of Brendan Hines-Ike, who has become a mainstay in the Austin FC starting XI, after his red card against Seattle.
A win would be Austin’s first at Toyota Stadium. When they clinched the 2022 Copa Tejas trophy in Frisco, it was in a 1-1 draw off a late equalizer by the man who etched his name into so many meaningful moments over the first two and a half years of the club, Diego Fagundez. The other four times ATX has traveled north, they’ve returned empty handed, including last season’s heartbreaking loss at the death on Nkosi Tafari’s backwards header.
With the middle of the Western Conference pack all picking up points over the weekend, the screws are being turned on Austin in the standings, just before the expected sweet relief of the transfer window arrives. Even a draw in Frisco would be a welcome sight in the quest for 45 points, the usual line that guarantees at least a wild card berth. Currently sitting on 30 with 11 games (including this one) left on the schedule, every single point you can pick up along the way is going to be important.
Injury Report
ATX – Brendan Hines-Ike (Out – Not injury related)
DAL – Asier Illaramendi (Questionable - Ankle), Petar Musa (Questionable - Illness), Jesus Ferreira (Out – Hip), Liam Fraser (Out - Leg), Patrickson Delgado (Out - Knee), Paxton Pomykal (Out – Knee), Alan Velasco (Out – Knee), Geovane Jesus (Out – Knee)
FC Dallas Players To Watch
Petar Musa – The former Benfica striker has found his form after a slow start to the year, with 13 goals from the 24 matches played across all competitions. He notched the opening goal and assisted on the second in Frisco’s victory back in May. Expect him to be headache for Austin’s back line all night.
Maarten Paes – After a six-game stretch without a clean sheet Paes and his teammates on the Dallas back line were able to end that streak with their 2-0 shutout of the Galaxy last weekend. Paes has made many memorable saves in this all-time series, but maybe his greatest fortune in the last meeting was his left post, which returned a dangerous shot by Guilherme Biro to the field of play and just past the outstretched leg of Sebastián Driussi for a follow up tap-in. Let’s hope the luck swings Austin’s way this time, they’ll need it to get the better of the 2024 MLS All-Star.
Asier Illaramendi – From La Liga to Toyota Stadium, Illaramendi has been quite solid for this FC Dallas side since coming over during the summer transfer window in 2023. The former Real Madrid man has been a big reason why Dallas is still alive in the playoff chase even through the myriad of big injuries they’ve dealt with throughout the season.
Austin’s Keys To The Game
Block Out the Noise – There’s a ton of it right now. This team has an opportunity to, at least temporarily, silence critics and get a big result on the road. They’ve only won twice away from Q2 this season, but a draw would also keep the perceived bleeding at bay until Saturday’s return home. Every point counts and as the standings sit coming into this match, this is Austin FC’s last regular season game scheduled against a team currently below the wild card line in either conference.
Good Practice – While the Copa Tejas isn’t an official “trophy”, it’s quite literally always better to have bragging rights over your biggest and closest rivals than not. This match can be good practice for the squad in preparation for the intensity of a playoff environment. The stakes inside the bubble that is the three-team Copa Tejas structure indicate that this is winner-take-all. So even if this game is just one of the 34 out the outside of said bubble, the team can use this game as good practice for the type of on-field pressure they could face if they do clinch a postseason spot in the fall.
The North End’s Predictions
ZG – 1-0 Austin FC
E – 2-1 Austin FC
