FRISCO, TEXAS – After a difficult 2-1 home loss last weekend, Vancouver Whitecaps FC (8W-8L-3D) are heading south of the border to face FC Dallas (9W-3L-7D) for a sweltering evening of soccer at Toyota Stadium on Saturday night.
KICKOFF: 5 p.m. PT | TV: TSN 2 | RADIO: TSN 1410 radio
The Texas fixture marks the beginning of a three-game road stretch for Vancouver that continues in Colorado on August 5 for a high-altitude matchup against the Rapids before a cross-conference game against New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium on August 12.
Chasing Dallas Demons
Things won’t be easy Saturday night.
The ‘Caps have to contend with a Dallas side that they’ve yet to defeat at their home base since joining MLS in 2011. In both of Vancouver’s last two trips to Toyota Stadium, the boys have come out on the short end of 2-0 scorelines. However, Carl Robinson's men been strong on the road so far in 2017, posting a 3W-5L-1D record including a 1-0 victory at LA Galaxy last week.
That's one road win off their entire total from last season.
“We’ll need a little bit of everything to go and get a result,” Robinson said. “But I firmly believe we can. It’s one that I would like to get off the checklist … but we know it’s going to be hard.”
Ready for Reyna?
Yordy Reyna has now made four straight substitute appearances after returning from a broken foot suffered in the preseason. Will that number become five on Saturday?
Or, might we see Reyna get his first start?
“Yes, yes you might,” Robinson said with a smile this week.
“We’ve had to be patient with Yordy,” he added. “We’re delighted to have him back. He’s an exciting player. In the four appearances he’s come on as a sub he’s shown us glimpses of something we haven’t had. Hopefully over the next three away games we’ll build his fitness up even more … we need Yordy fit and firing to allow us to create more opportunities.”
Fort Knox Frisco
Toyota Stadium has been a fortress for the Western Conference leaders in 2017.
The Texan side have been all but impregnable at home this season thus far with head coach Óscar Pareja’s squad holding a 6W-1L-3D record in the lead-up to Saturday’s match.
And a large part of that success can be attributed to the work of Argentine Maximiliano Urruti. The ‘Caps backline will need to tightly mark the forward if they hope to get out of Texas with some points. The Argentine has found the back of the net in each of the last two encounters between the two teams, most recently scoring the lone goal for his side in a 1-1 draw back in June at BC Place. The Argentine is also currently tied for fourth place in the Golden Boot race with 11 goals.
Midfielder Michael Barrios is another key cog in this well-oiled Dallas machine. The Colombian speedster has racked up 10 assists this season, which is tied for the most in the league.
Catch all the action Saturday evening on TSN2 at 5 p.m. PT.
