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The Whitecaps have an extremely busy schedule ahead of them for the next two weeks. In those 14 days the Caps are set to play 4 matches, but against only two different teams.They kick off their hectic schedule against the MLS leading Texas side, FC Dallas this Saturday. Following that match, the Caps venture up to the province of Alberta to take on NASL side FC Edmonton in their first match of the Amway Canadian Championship.
All of that repeats once again in the week after, but this time with both matches taking place at BC Place. On Saturday, April 27th, the Whitecaps will take on FC Dallas a second time and move right on to the second leg against FC Edmonton on May, 1st, also in Vancouver. With this heavy stretch of games, the Caps will definitely have to dig deep into their squad, which will be simple with all the depth Martin Rennie added in the offseason.
FC Dallas Match Preview
This weekend's upcoming match against FC Dallas will easily be the Whitecaps' biggest obstacle so far this season. The Caps are currently winless away from home and to add to the challenge, they will be taking on the top team in the MLS. With Kenny Miller and Corey Hertzog not making the trip down south due to injury, Rennie will have to rearrange his starting eleven in order to have any chance of getting a result.
FC Dallas and the Vancouver Whitecaps have met 5 times since 2011, and the Caps have had little to no success against the Texas side so far. They have only recorded one win and have disappointingly lost the remaining 4, these are horrible numbers going into this weekend's match. The last time these two sides met was 7 months ago down in Texas. FC Dallas took the victory on that day by a score of 1-0 when Canadian Julian De Guzman scored a screamer in the 6th minute of injury time.
If the Whitecaps want to get any sort of result against FC Dallas, they must do everything right, which goes without saying. This means defending properly on every occasion and getting the ball out of their box as soon as possible. Attacking wise, the Caps must score on every chance they get. Expect to see Camilo in the starting lineup again and if he is able to play at his best this weekend he will make the difference in this match for Vancouver. Dallas have many talented attackers and the Whitecaps' defenders must be aware of players like David Ferreira, Blas Pérez, Kenny Cooper and ironically maybe even Eric Hassli. With all these goalscorers in their squad, FC Dallas are currently the league's highest scorers with a total of 11 goals in 7 matches. Priority number one for the Whitecaps, stay solid defensively.
Canadian Championship Preview
The first leg of the Amway Canadian Championship is set to take place midweek on April 24th in Edmonton. Last season these two sides met in the very same round of the competition when the Caps brushed the NASL aside by an aggregate score of 5-1. In the first match, Vancouver won 2-0 away to the Eddies, and in the second match at BC Place they defeated the second division side 3-1 to move onto the final against Toronto FC.
I suspect that we will see some new faces on the pitch against FC Edmonton. Keep your eyes peeled for possible appearances from Johnny Leverón, Omar Salgado, Matt Watson and Brad Knighton. This should be an interesting match but the Whitecaps should have no problem getting the aggregate advantage going into the second leg in Vancouver.
Predictions
Whitecaps 0 – FC Dallas 2
Whitecaps 2 – FC Edmonton 0
Match Details
– Whitecaps vs FC Dallas: April 20th at 5:30pm PST in Dallas on City TV in Canada and MLS Live.
– Whitecaps vs FC Edmonton: April 24th at 6:45pm PST in Edmonton on Sportsnet Pacific.
(image courtesy of Bob Frid/Vancouver Whitecaps FC)
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