FRISCO - Two teams separated by two points in the Western Conference standings faceoff Saturday for their second meeting of the season.
FC Dallas hosts a red-hot Los Angeles Galaxy squad backed by its “Big Three” composed of captain Robbie Keane and recent additions Steven Gerrard and Giovanni Dos Santos. As the teams hit the last stretch of the season neck-and-neck in the standings, the match is set to be one of the most crucial games of the season.
“It’s big,” forward Tesho Akindele said. “All the games at the end of the season, we’re fighting for points with teams at the top of the league. Any point we win, we also take from them.”
LA heads to Frisco having won four of its last five games. Galaxy’s only loss in those five games came to Houston Dynamo in 3-0 fashion on July 25. During the stretch, LA picked up its first road win of the season with a 3-1 win over the Colorado Rapids on August 1.
FCD has won five of its last six games, most recently falling 2-0 to Chicago Fire on August 2. Dallas has dropped only one game at home this season so far.
“They obviously are on a streak right now,” Akindele said. “They’re on a roll, but so are we. so we’re trying to play confident and play the way we always do.”
Last time FC Dallas played in Toyota Stadium, FCD was able to tally four goals on Portland Timbers. After being shutout on the road, Akindele and the FCD offense looks to return to scoring ways in a front of an expected full crowd for Saturday’s match.
“We’re good at home all the time and having a packed house is going to make us even better,” Akindele said. “We just have to bring that confidence into the game.”
Three points Saturday would propel FCD to second place in the conference with 41 points and three games in hand on LA as well as two on Western Conference leaders, Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
