Ahead of Tuesday's Open Cup quarterfinal vs FC Dallas, SportingKC.com caught up with Big D Soccer's Drew Epperley to preview #SKCvFCD. Live coverage of the match is available on SportingKC.com and 99.3 FM starting at 7:30 p.m. CT.
What’s the current form of the club heading into Tuesday’s quarterfinal?
FC Dallas is doing pretty well these days, much like Sporting KC. Their last loss in any competition came at the beginning of June on the road against Portland. Since then they have drawn twice on the road in league play to Houston and Vancouver before returning home to beat Toronto, D.C. United and Colorado (in USOC play). The three games at home saw the team's attack come alive as they scored three on Colorado in the Round of 16, and then three against TFC and four against DCU.
What lineups has FC Dallas used in their first two Open Cup matches? What are you expecting to see on Tuesday?
Oscar Pareja has juggled his USOC lineups due to the way the games were put on the calendar. He has brought in a good mix of younger Homegrown players like Reggie Cannon, Coy Craft and Paxton Pomykal, as well as utilizing a veteran group like Ryan Hollingshead, Mauro Diaz, and Victor Ulloa. I would imagine due to the international cap in USOC play, we'll see a 4-2-3-1 formation that has Diaz as the focal point in the attack.
How will the team adjust without several players due to international duty (2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup)?
Thankfully the team has been no stranger to losing players for international duty this season. They've already played a handful of games without Matt Hedges, Kellyn Acosta and Maynor Figueroa, including their last wins in league play and in the USOC. You'll see other guys step up like Walker Zimmerman who is back from injury, Ulloa or Carlos Cermeno in the midfield and young guys like Cannon or Aaron Guillen at fullback.
After winning the 2016 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, how is the team balancing this tournament and MLS play?
So far Pareja has done an excellent job of rotating his players in for these days. He had the additional Champions League games at the beginning of the season to help build up this sort of rotation, not to mention the injuries to begin the year with Diaz, Hollingshead and Ulloa. While he has rotated guys in and out throughout the season so far, he has also been able to keep a core group of players active, which has led to Michael Barrios becoming the league leader in assists so far and Maxi Urruti eclipsing the 10 goal mark by June (the first FCD player to do so since 2014).
What are a few things you’ll be watching for on Tuesday night?
Outside of who starts, I will be looking to see how FC Dallas controls the tempo and the midfield in this game. We know SKC loves to press and put numbers forward. How FCD will be able to counter that with the speed of their wingers will be key in generating chances. FCD remembers the last time these two met in the USOC (SKC came away with a monster 6-2 win), and will be looking to make sure the defense is able to continue their strong play this season in this one.
