BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. - FC Dallas and the Chicago Fire meet for the only time this season tonight at Toyota Park and Oscar Pareja has made some big adjustments to his lineup to combat a formidable Fire side and knowing Dallas has another game in just 72 hours against Houston.
Depth Showcase
Tonight’s match will see Victor Ulloa, Carlos Cermeño and Aaron Guillen make their second starts of the season, while 2017 SuperDraft pick Walker Hume will make his professional debut alongside Matt Hedges at center back. Homegrown Reggie Cannon will appear on his first MLS gameday roster as an available sub off the bench. Cannon was on the bench for one CCL match against Arabe Unido, but has yet to make his professional debut.
Chris Seitz returns to goal for the first time since the CCL Semifinal loss to Pachuca on April 4 and Jacob Lissek, still on loan from USL-affiliate OKC Energy FC, will back him up in the 18-man roaster. Jesse Gonzalez is nursing a slight leg knock and remained behind in Frisco ahead of this weekend.
Kellyn Acosta, Walker Zimmerman, Maxi Urruti and Hernan Grana all also remained home to prepare for Sunday’s match against Houston.
Midfield Party
Dallas will come out in a 4-5-1 look for the second time this season, the only other coming in a 0-0 draw against Sporting KC on April 11. Victor Ulloa will sit deep in the middle, with Carlos Cermeño and Carlos Gruezo playing on either side slightly further up. Roland Lamah and Tesho Akindele will play out with with Cristian Colman up top in his first start since April 22.
While combating Chicago’s top offensive treats in Nemanja Nikovic and David Accam, as well as defensive midfield tandem of Bastian Schweinsteiger and Dax McCarty, tonight’s match will be won or lost down the middle.
Milestone Watch
- FC Dallas will look to start a season with four straight matches unbeaten on the road for the first time in franchise history tonight in Chicago.
- The next assist will be the 1,000th in club history, while they also approach the millennium mark in goals (994).
- FCD will look for their first win at Toyota Park since 2011, while looking to keep the Brimstone Cup for a second straight season after four straight Fire titles from 2012-2015
