It may only seem like yesterday that FC Dallas was getting set to take on the Vancouver Whitecaps, but the two teams will be at it again this weekend. FC Dallas travels to Canada for the final regular season matchup between the two sides on Saturday.
The Whitecaps are coming off a big 2-1 win last weekend over Real Salt Lake. Vancouver is 3-4-3 in their last ten games as they enter the final month of the season.
These two sides met earlier this season at the end of July in Vancouver with the result ending in a 2-2 draw. FCD won the previous meeting last month in Frisco, 2-1.
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FC Dallas has a playoff berth on the line in this match. A win over Vancouver will clinch their spot in the post-season for the first time since 2011. Oscar Pareja’s bunch can also clinch by matching whatever result Portland has against San Jose this weekend.
Injury Watch
Vancouver manager Carl Robinson only has a couple injury concerns to worry about at the moment. Caleb Clarke (quad), Gershon Koffie (right foot sprain), and Andre Lewis (ACL sprain) are all listed as out for this weekend’s match.
Key Matchups
Moises Hernandez vs Mauro Rosales - This could be a tricky matchup for Hernandez as Rosales is a crafty player that does well from the wings. Hernandez will want to limit the amount of extra touches that Rosales gets in the attack as he does a good job of finding players in open spaces.
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Blas Perez vs Andy O’Brien - The veteran center back will have his work cut out for him with the red-hot Perez. FC Dallas need to continue to lean on Perez to hold up the ball in the attack, allowing the speed on the outside to cause issues for the Whitecaps’ defense.
Key Player for Vancouver
Pedro Morales - The Whitecaps continue to go as Morales goes at the moment. He currently leads the club with 10 goals and 10 assists. Teams that have shut Morales down in the attack have done well at slowing down the attack that Vancouver has up front. Last weekend against RSL, Morales scored two goals in the win.
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Projected Lineup
Robinson has gone back and forth with his formations as of late. Lately he has been opting to use a 4-2-3-1 style look.
GK: David Ousted, RB: Steven Beitashour; CB: Andy O’Brien, Kendall Waston ; LB: Jordan Harvey, CM: Matias Laba, Russell Teibert; RM: Mauro Rosales, AM: Pedro Morales; LM: Sebastián Fernández; FW: Darren Mattocks
Keys to three points
Vancouver is always a tougher team to face at BC Place. Just like FCD, they are in the playoff hunt as well at the moment and have a huge amount to play for.
FCD has to come out with a purpose in this game and not allow Vancouver to dictate the pace of this game with the forwards up front. Vancouver does a good job of using the speed up front and stretching the field on their home turf. FCD will want to be mindful of not allowing extra space in the attack for guys like Mattocks or Ketuka Manneh.
The midfield play will be key in this one as well for FCD. In the previous trip to Vancouver, the times that FCD did well were the times that they got the ball wide to Fabian Castillo, Andres Escobar and with Moises Hernandez when he went forward into the attack.
Stretching the field on the wings will allow Perez, David Texeira or Tesho Akindele to get more space in the attack to help create and finish chances.
FCD can also win this game on set pieces too. The Whitecaps don’t have the same size that FCD has on set pieces which could come into play late in the game.
