Sporting Kansas City will host FC Dallas on Friday night in a rematch from the second week of the 2015 MLS Regular Season, when FC Dallas cruised to a 3-1 win at home. Blas Perez had two of the three Dallas goals and propelled the home side to victory.

The historical series between these two MLS founding clubs is dead even.  Each team has twenty wins in the fifty game history with ten draws thrown in. Dallas has outscored KC 83-72 over those games, and six of those draws came in Kansas City where the home side has scored 44 to Dallas' 30. 

Notable Absences

Sporting Kansas City will be without Paulo Nagamura, Seth Sinovic, Jacob Peterson, Chance Myers, and Ike Opara for sure. Nagamura is suffering from a lower back strain, Sinovic is dealing with a concussion suffered against DC United, Peterson has a hamstring pull from contact in the Seattle game, Chance Myers is almost finished with recovery from an Achilles rupture and Opara is out for the season with an ACL injury. To add to the list, Marcel deJong is still questionable with a groin strain. Dom Dwyer is doubtful with a neck injury suffered in warm-ups at Seattle last weekend. Bernardo Anor, while not a regular starter, also missed time over the weekend and his status is uncertain. Graham Zusi will be on the bench for sure and may see extended minutes after suffering a concussion. He did appear in the Seattle match as a late sub. Roger Espinoza has missed two matches with a groin injury as well, but might be able to play in this one.

As an added note, Luis Marin, who started the first eight games for Sporting in goal, is no longer with the club. Marin and the team mutually agreed to part ways this week after the goalkeeper approached Peter Vermes with an undisclosed personal issue.

For Dallas, the scenario isn't so grim. Stephen Keel is still out after having foot surgery. The bigger absence is Fabian Castillo, the team's assist leader and second leading scorer. 

Neither team is missing any players due to suspension. Erik Palmer-Brown of SKC and Kellyn Acosta of FCD are both away with the US U-20 team.

Sporting Kansas City Potential Lineup

Sporting, while thin, can still field a formidable lineup, but things will not be easy. The defense has played fairly well together, but it's the attacking core that will be interesting. If Zusi or Espinoza aren't able to go, look for rookie Connor Hallisey to get the nod.

Melia

Anibaba - Ellis - Besler - Dia

Feilhaber - Mustivar - Espinoza

Medranda - Nemeth - Zusi

FC Dallas Potential Lineup

With only the Castillo injury to worry about, Dallas will field their standard lineup.

Kennedy

Watson - Zimmerman - Hedges - Hernandez

Ulloa - Michel

Hollingshead - Diaz - Akindele

Perez

Keys to Victory

Sporting Kansas City: Keep up the defensive work. With Tim Melia in the back, Sporting has only given up three goals and are undefeated. Another solid performance will be key.

FC Dallas: Contain Benny Feilhaber. The league's leading assist man has run rampant on teams this season. Limited his touches, especially with the weakened lineup, will stall this offense.

Match Outlook

Sporting Kansas City is on a four game unbeaten streak in May and looking to finish out the month in the same style. Dallas will be looking to get back on track after a two game winless streak. A win would put Dallas back on top of the West, while a win for Sporting would vault them into second place.

If Sporting get Espinoza and Zusi back in the lineup, the midfield will control the game and push Dallas to the brink. The high powered offense of FC Dallas will not be shut out.  This game will follow the trend of history that sees three goals a game on average.

Prediction: Sporting Kansas City wins 2-1.