FC Dallas vs. Seattle Sounders FC | 2018 MLS Match Preview

Dylan Butler

FC Dallas vs. Seattle Sounders FC
2018 MLS Regular Season – Week 3
Toyota Stadium – Frisco
5:00 pm ET – March 18, 2018
WATCH: MLS LIVE

Seattle Sounders FC leave Mexico battered and bruised, looking to pick up the pieces from a devastating 3-0 loss to Chivas de Guadalajara in the Concacaf Champions League quarterfinals, to take on an FC Dallas side that is well rested following an MLS-opening 1-1 draw with Real Salt Lake on March 3.

FC Dallas

FC Dallas’ CCL misery came earlier in the year, with the club falling to Tauro FC of Panama in the Round of 16. That loss, along with a Week 2 bye in MLS, means Oscar Pareja’s squad has had plenty of time to tinker on the training pitch following a 1-1 draw against RSL at Toyota Stadium.

“Of course we wanted to stay in Concacaf to avoid this situation [of two weeks between games], and it’s not easy, but we still have the legs and the competition in our heads,” defender Reto Ziegler said. “We want to be up there in the standings. We didn't have the three points in the first game, but we want to respond to ourselves and also to our fans.”

If Pareja wins on Sunday, he will surpass Schellas Hyndman and climb to second on the club’s all-time wins list with 63, 22 victories behind Dave Dir, who tops the list.

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: None
Injury Report: OUT: M - Kellyn Acosta (sports hernia surgery), D - Anton Nedyalkov (Achilles tendon), M - Brandon Servania (Compartment Syndrome surgery)

Projected Starting XI
(4-2-3-1, right to left)
GK: Jimmy Maurer — Reggie Cannon, Matt Hedges, Reto Ziegler, Maynor Figueroa — Carlos Gruezo, Victor Ulloa — Michael Barrios, Mauro Diaz, Santiago Mosquera — Maxi Urruti

Notes: Maximiliano Urruti has taken five shots, three of which were on target. The rest of FC Dallas have combined for 13 shots and two shots on target. … FCD have lost just twice in their last 20 MLS home matches (10W-8D), limiting opponents to 1.1 goals per game.

Seattle Sounders FC

Things went sour even before the start Wednesday night at Estadio Akron with Nicolas Lodeiro being ruled out with a foot sprain and then Brian Schmetzer forced to use two of his substitutions in the first half to replace injured players with Will Bruin and Chad Marshall coming off for a Sounders FC team already reeling with injuries.

Chivas scored twice in a five-minute span early in the second half to take hold of the aggregate series and then put it away on a clever Jose Godinez backheel in the 80th minute as Seattle crashed out of the CCL 3-1 on aggregate.

“I don’t want to take anything away from Chivas because I thought they played hard and they played well,” Schmetzer said. “Certainly it is a disadvantage if you lose the captain and your playmaker. It certainly is a disadvantage when you lose two players in the first half. But our team does not make excuses. The expectation is that the next player has to step forward and fill the shoes of the player that is injured. But there were a lot of quality players we didn't have on the field and that made it tough for us tonight.”

The slight bright spot for Sounders FC was that Dutch fullback Kelvin Leerdam made his 2018 debut, coming off the bench for Henry Wingo for the final nine minutes after being sidelined with a sprained ankle.

“We have to learn from this match, the whole team, and try to dominate Sunday,” Leerdam said. “That’s the goal now. Luckily, it’s a quick [turnover] so we can forget this game as quick as possible.”

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: None
Injury Report: OUT: F - Jordan Morris (torn ACL), M - Osvaldo Alonso (quad); QUESTIONABLE: F - Will Bruin (head), D - Chad Marshall (eye), M - Victor Rodriguez (undisclosed), M - Nicolas Lodeiro (right midfoot sprain)

Projected Starting XI
(4-2-3-1, right to left)
GK: Stefan Frei — Kelvin Leerdam, Roman Torres, Kim Kee-Hee, Nouhou — Gustav Svensson, Cristian Roldan — Lamar Neagle, Magnus Wolff Eikrem, Handwalla Bwana — Clint Dempsey

Notes: Four of Nicolas Lodeiro’s 15 career MLS goals (inc. playoffs) have come against Dallas, his highest total against any MLS team. He has multiple goals against just three other MLS clubs. … Including last season’s playoffs, the Sounders have won just one of their last seven away matches, scoring a total of three goals in that time.

All-Time Series

Overall: FC Dallas 5 wins, 22 goals … Sounders FC 11 wins, 39 goals … Ties 6
At Dallas.: Real Salt Lake 4 wins, 15 goals … Sounders FC 3 wins, 12 goals … Ties 5
Last meeting at Dallas: FC Dallas 0, Seattle Sounders FC 0 (Sept. 16, 2017)