FC DALLAS vs. COLORADO RAPIDS

2021 MLS Regular Season

July 21 - 8:00PM

Dick's Sporting Goods Park – Commerce City, Colorado

TXA 21 & FCDTV | FCDallas.com/Radio | 1270AM

COLvDAL

HEAD-TO-HEAD

• FCD record: 2-6-5 (11 pts., 13th in West)
• COL record: 6-3-3 (21 pts., 4th in West)
• FCD vs. COL all-time: 34-25-18 (117 GF, 96 GA)
• FCD vs. COL away: 9-17-11 (46 GF, 55 GA)

FAMILIAR FOE

• This Wednesday FC Dallas returns to Dick's Sporting Goods Park to face the Colorado Rapids for the third and final time this season. Dallas opened its 2021 campaign with a scoreless home draw against the Rapids before falling 3-0 at Dick's Sporting Goods Park a little over a month later. Now, FCD has a chance to return the favor and get its first victory on the road against what's becoming a familiar opponent in Colorado. One key to getting that first road win is remembering the positives from the team's previous trip to the Centennial State.

Defender Ryan Hollingshead: "Last game, we started out really strong, creating some big time chances in that game. The first 10-15 minutes we were all over them and so starting this game the same way with that same energy and trying to put on of those chances away early would be huge. Looking back at the stats last game, even though we lost 3-0, we outshot them, out-possessed them at their field. But that doesn't matter, we need to get the result but we can take a lot of those positives and use that to get a result."

PAXTON'S SPARK

• Midfielder Paxton Pomykal started FCD's previous game and played 82 minutes, his longest runout since September 29, 2019. The Homegrown playmaker looked close to his best and was Dallas' most creative player on the night, nearly setting up Ricardo Pepi for the opener but the teenager's shot struck the post. While he's still gaining match fitness after his offseason surgery, Pomykal seems to be recapturing his 2019 form that saw him named an MLS All-Star.

Hollingshead: "You can see these moments with Paxton where he's getting there, where it's starting to click again. And there's no question he has all the skill to do that. It's more about the confidence of it and just getting the reps. Just being able to do it time and time again. I really enjoy playing with him on that (left) side, it's been fun to watch him."

ROAD VICTORY

• FC Dallas is still chasing it's first road win of the season after falling 1-0 late to the Portland Timbers last Saturday. However, the team's performance in Portland was among its best of the season (home or away) and were unlucky to not take the lead in the first half through Ricardo Pepi. Now, the coaching staff and players are looking to carry a similar mindset to Colorado this time around.

"We were close in our last one against Portland with a good performance but ultimately fell short in the last 10 minutes and allowed them to score. It's just those small margins that keep making the difference but I think the group is getting closer and closer to having that complete performance. We have to keep believing and pushing and doing it for our fans and doing it for each other. We're going to have a chip on our shoulder, we know what happened last time in Colorado and it didn't feel good. We remember that feeling and don't want it to happen again."