FC Dallas and New England meet in the 103rd Lamar Hunt US Open Cup Final on Tuesday night at Toyota Stadium in a re-match of the 2007 LHUSOC Final won 3-2 by New England. FCD comes into this match after their first loss at Toyota Stadium in over a year, falling 1-0 to Colorado on Saturday night in a match that FCD dominated in the statistics but couldn't find the goal. New England enters Tuesday's game with a two-game winning streak having defeated NYCFC 3-1 on Saturday night, their first winning streak since June.
Dallas Ties
New England comes to Frisco with plenty of ties to FC Dallas. Defender London Woodberry was a member of the inaugural FC Dallas Academy class before spending four years at the University of Maryland. He signed as a Homegrown with FC Dallas and made eight appearances in 2013. He joined New England in the 2015 season and has made 38 appearances in the last two years for Jay Heaps' side.
Defender Je-Vaughn Watson was traded to New England at the start of this season after playing three years for FCD, scoring six MLS goals. He has a goal and an assist in 23 appearances for New England in 2016.
Attacker Lee Nguyen has never played for FC Dallas, but was a breakout star at Plano East High School winning the Gatorade Texas Player of the Year before embarking on a career that saw him play in the UEFA Champions League at PSV Eindhoven before playing in Vietname and ending up in MLS.
Key Player for New England
Lee Nguyen - The Richardson native has been at the heart of the New England attack and earned MLS Best XI honors in 2014 with an 18-goal season. His six goals and eight assists lead New England in both categories this year and he loves to drop deep to receive the ball and run at defenses. Nguyen is dangerous on set pieces and can certainly find the runs of players like Kei Kamara and Juan Agudelo in attack with pinpoint service.
Matchups to Watch
Mauro Diaz vs Gershon Koffie - While the Revolution have an abundance of numbers in attack, they have lacked a true defensive midfielder to breakup opposition service. This could be a game where Mauro Diaz is able to influence the match a great deal if he can manage to sneak past Koffie, the one who will likely be tasked with slowing down the Argentine.
Maynor Figueroa vs Juan Agudelo - The Honduran defender's experience will certainly be counted on in this one, Figueroa an FA Cup winner with Wigan in England. He will have a big job on Tuesday looking to slow down Juan Agudelo, a player who loves to receive the ball on the wing and cut in centrally to take a shot.
Projected Lineup
Goalkeeper: Brad Knighton; Defenders: Andrew Farrell, Je-Vaughn Watson, Jose Goncalves, London Woodberry; Midfielders: Scott Caldwell, Gershon Koffie, Lee Nguyen, Juan Agudelo, Kellyn Rowe; Forward: Kei Kamara
Keys to winning
FC Dallas was able to earn a big 4-2 win over New England in the only meeting between the two sides with Tesho Akindele and Kellyn Acosta having big games. Winning the midfield and forcing New England to drop deep is huge for Dallas as the Revs have major attacking talent going forward. The key for Dallas will be to not let Lee Nguyen get comfortable on the ball and receive possession 30 yards from goal, force him to come back deep in midfield and FCD could have a great shot at their first trophy since 1997.
