Ahead of Saturday's trip to Dallas, SportingKC.com caught up with Big D Soccer's Drew Epperley to preview #FCDvSKC. Live coverage of Saturday's match is available on FOX Sports KC+, FOX Sports GO, Sports Radio 810 WHB, and La Grande 1340 AM. Check out MatchDay Central for complete online coverage.
After winning Supporters’ Shield and Open Cup in 2016, is it MLS Cup or bust in 2017?
Absolutely. And I would say there is even more emphasis on it now that the team is no longer in the CONCACAF Champions League too. Going into this season, the talk was either about the CCL or a MLS Cup. After missing out on a treble last year, the club is hungry for a MLS Cup trophy now and so are the fans.
FC Dallas is one of two unbeaten teams in MLS (Sporting KC being the other), what are your thoughts on their season up to this point?
Aside from giving up late goals in the CCL and last weekend in San Jose, I would say this season is going just about as well as anyone could have hoped for going into 2017. I expected some sort of hangover from the CCL loss but the team has responded well and are playing better with each passing game. The newcomers that FCD brought in this season are starting to get truly acclimated to MLS and to Dallas, which will only help as the season rolls on.
These two sides played to a scoreless draw back on March 11 at Children’s Mercy Park. What were your takeaways from the match?
In a way, that game seems like ages ago already for me. FC Dallas rolled out a pretty conservative lineup that saw a lot of young faces getting the start for the first time thanks to a Champions League game that was on the horizon last month. Defensively, both teams looked good in that match by not allowing either to really take over and find quality chances on goal. To me, it felt like a pretty typical early season game as both teams still had some rust from the preseason lingering.
Are there any injury concerns ahead of Saturday?
Right now there is really only one injury to discuss, and that is Mauro Diaz. He'll continue to be out until at least June, if not July depending on how his rehab is going.
With Mauro Diaz sidelined with an injury, who has filled that role for FC Dallas?
Oscar Pareja has mixed up his lineups this season to help fill that void. In some ways it has been former RSL legend Javier Morales. In other ways it has been a switch to a 4-4-2 with Kellyn Acosta stepping up in a creative role in the midfield. His two goals this season have been a big boost to the club offensively.
What do you think will be the keys to the match?
For Dallas it will come down to not allowing Dom Dwyer space in and around the penalty box. They've done well in previous meetings in limiting the space for an opposing team's top attacker (LA's Gio dos Santos, San Jose's Chris Wondolowski are good examples of that). But aside from that, also limiting what Benny Feilhaber is able to do in the midfield will be key. If they let Benny get too much space, we know he can be incredibly dangerous. On the offensive end, Dallas will look to expose the back four for SKC on the wings and on the counter attack. Roland Lamah and Michael Barrios continue to be threats on the side, while Cristian Colman and Maxi Urruti are always moving up top to force defenders in bad spots.
