Not six months ago these two sides battled it out for the final Western Conference playoff spot. Vancouver was in flux at the time as coach Martin Rennie searched for the right squad to take Vancouver into the playoffs and the 2013 season. FC Dallas, six months ago, scrambled, clawed, and tirelessly fought for the final Western Conference playoff spot only to come up empty-handed.
Times have changed, even if minutely, for both clubs: Dallas has a franchise-best start to a season, Vancouver has a record eight points out of its first six games, the best since the inaugural 2011 season (previous record being six points from six games). But the momentum clearly swings in FCD’s favor, given past history (a 2-1 2012 record vs. Vancouver), and current success.
The ‘Caps have yet to find any sort of consistency in play in 2013. Wins, draws, and losses all equal at a 2-2-2 record, they still have an identity to forge. Will the Saturday’s game be reflective of a Whitecaps side that between April 21st and July 7th of 2012 claimed 22 points? Will it be the side that capitulated to FC Dallas twice in the later stages of 2012, amidst a massive end year skid that tallied only 13 points from 16 games?
Hyndman’s starting lineup will go unchanged, starkly contrasting the fluctuations in personnel that so embodied the team when Vancouver took on FCD in Gameweek 7 in 2012. Rennie’s side should feature three new additions of Reo-Coker, Kobayashi, and Rusin, all of which have established starting spots early in 2013. Their attacking 4-3-3 formation will hopefully provide FCD more problems than it did in 2012, as the ‘Caps only found the net once in three matches against Dallas.
Despite the brilliant success that has followed the club, there are still lingering reasons to doubt that FCD can maintain their momentum. Some victories haven’t been pretty (Houston, LA, and Colorado), and the specter of late match meltdowns, a problem since 2012, hasn’t departed either. FCD’s goal production from its trio of attackers Cooper, Hassli, and Perez hasn’t necessarily produced the glut of goals fans and pundits predicted in the preseason.
But Dallas has yet to settle for less than three points at home this year and the Whitecaps have only managed one point in three road matches. Furthermore, Vancouver has also only registered three goals in each of their three road matches. Shutting out the ‘Caps won’t necessarily be easy, but it certainly will be plausible with their road form, a dominant Dallas defense, and the form of netminder Raul Fernandez. Also, given the shaky ending to last week’s rollercoaster of match against LA, anything short of a victory will be a letdown in Frisco.
Projected lineups:
FC Dallas: 4-2-3-1: Fernandez; Loyd, Hedges, John, Benitez; Michel, Jacobson; Cooper, Ferreira, Jackson; Perez
Vancouver Whitecaps: 4-3-3: Cannon; Rochat, O’Brien, Rusin, Lee; Davidson, Teibert, Reo-Coker; Sanvezzo, Mattocks, Kobayashi
(image courtesy of USA Today Sports Images)
