A Western Conference showdown will take place on Sunday in the Lone Star State, between FC Dallas and Sporting Kansas City at Toyota Stadium.
First place Dallas and second place Kansas City will be facing for the first time this season. A mere two points separate SKC from the Toros. The two clubs have multiple players that will not hesitate to run at defenders, which means that the free flowing offense of each club will provide some fireworks in this heavyweight matchup on Sunday.
Who they played last
However, the two clubs enter this match coming off different results in their previous game. Dallas traveled to Providence Park on Wednesday, and left with a commanding 3-1 victory over the Portland Timbers. Michael Barrios, Fabian Castillo and Tesho Akindele scored all three goals for Dallas before the 30 minute mark.
The Timbers scored their lone goal in the second half but were never able to recover. The victory placed the Hoops in first place with 14 points in seven matches played.
Sporting hosted the Colorado Rapids on Wednesday at Children’s Mercy Park. It was clear that the Rapids were not going to back down from Kansas City as they created 12 shots and placed seven of them on target. It was no surprise that they drew first blood with Luis Solignac giving Colorado the surprising 1-0 lead at the 41st minute.
SKC striker Dom Dwyer was able to record his fourth goal of the season and tied the match at 1-1 in the 77th minute in the process. However, in the final 10 minutes Colorado retook the lead and held on to win the match 2-1. The failure to win at home came back to bite them, as Sporting dropped from first to second with 12 points.
Sporting has been in control of this series
Now Kansas City will have the ability to recapture first place on Sunday. The two clubs will be facing each other for the 57th time, and SKC has had control of the series with a (W-D-L) 25-12-19 record. Even when the matches are played in Texas, Sporting is more than comfortable and confident of getting a result. Dallas has hosted SKC 28 times and the Hoops have only been able to win 12 matches.
The way that Dallas can hold on to first place is by winning the battle of possession. Barrios, Kellyn Acosta, Castillo and Mauro Rosales need to move the ball around. However, they need to be smart and not turn it over. The midfield of SKC is more than capable of taking over the game and winning the match.
The four of them also have to step up since Toros playmaker Mauro Diaz has been ruled out for this match due to a hamstring injury. Additionally, midfielder Carlos Gruezo will not be competing for Dallas since he is serving a one game suspension due to yellow card accumulation.
Lastly, the strikers for the Toros need to keep up their effort and test Sporting’s goalkeeper Tim Melia. Akindele and Maximiliano Urruti have to be able to get off shots in the match. Kansas City’s defense is stubborn and do not allow teams to create too many chances.
The road to three points for SKC
For Kansas City to jump back up to first place U.S. international Graham Zusi and former U.S. international Benny Feilhaber have to run the show and get Dwyer involved early in the match. Additionally, Honduran international midfielder Roger Espinoza will need to control the midfield to give Zusi and Feilhaber time on the ball. If Espinoza cannot shut down Dallas then Kansas will have a rough time in Frisco.
Besler gets the green light
The good news for SKC manager Peter Vermes is that U.S. international center back Matt Besler has been cleared to play on Sunday. Besler had been out of action since he sustained concussion while in camp for the national team during the World Cup Qualifier match against Guatemala in late March.
Besler, who is also the captain of Sporting, has missed a total of three games due to the concussion. However, the World Cup veteran is excited to get back on the pitch this Sunday, and Vermes will be more than happy to have him back out there.
"I'm really looking forward to it," Besler told MLSsoccer. "When something gets taken away from you, and it's not in your control, you realize how much you miss it."
Injuries are not an excuse
However, when it comes to injuries Besler is the only good news for Sporting. There are still six players on the list and four of them have been ruled out for this match. It'll be tough for SKC to be without all of Justin Mapp (Left toe), Soni Mustivar (Left hamstring), Kevin Ellis (Groin injury) and Chance Myers (Hamstring injury).
Paulo Nagamura (Calf strain) and Brad Davis (Concussion) are the final two players on the injury list. However, they have been listed as questionable for the game. Regardless of this list of injuries, Sporting has the talent to record a victory at Toyota Stadium on Sunday.