WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: FC DALLAS
Welcome back to What You Need To Know, a match preview for Austin FC fans to check in on their next opponent.
Austin FC starting XI vs Club América in the Leagues Cup. Photo Courtesy of Chris Rodriguez RDZ Flickz
Opponent: FC Dallas
KICKOFF time: 7:39 PM US Central Time
Location: Q2 Stadium, Austin, TX
History vs. Austin FC:
All-time, Austin FC are 2-3-8 against FC Dallas and 2-2-2 all-time at Q2 in MLS play. Last season the teams drew 1-1 in this fixture featuring goals from Shaw Moore and Owen Wolff.
Recent Matches:
FC Dallas lost 3-1 to Austin FC’s Leagues Cup Quarterfinal opponent, Toluca, on Wednesday, which broke a three-match unbeaten streak and eliminated them from the Leagues Cup. They are currently 6th in the Western Conference.
Players to Watch:
Petar Musa: Currently tied for the MLS Golden Boot with 13 goals in 16 appearances, he is still Dallas’ center of focus for their entire attack. Even by his standards, he is having a great MLS season so far, only five goals off his career-best season with the club.
Logan Farrington: The Oregon State product is building off strong 2024 and 2025 seasons with a breakout this season. The former third overall SuperDraft pick plays as an attacking midfielder underneath Muse and is the player they rely on to get him the ball in space and work off of.
Jonathan Sirois: FC Dallas has a revolving door at keeper in trying to replace former stalwart Marten Pass. Michael Collodi has started the most matches, but the club brought in Daniel from the San Jose Earthquakes to be the new starter, and he was subsequently injured. Since then, Sirois has taken over as the starter with fewer goals allowed (1.05 per game) and a higher save percentage (84) than the other options.
Keys to the Match:
More Congested Than Ragweed Season: With Austin FC advancing in the Leagues Cup, they will play 9 matches in August, the most they’ve played since last May during their US Open Cup run. So far, every match bar Colorado had temperatures high enough for a water break. This has resulted in a lot of rotation within the team, and they won’t get a week-long break between matches until the month ends. Dallas has had a similar run-up but is getting an extra day of rest in exchange for more road trips, having to play at Toluca and also Guadalajara in San Jose the previous Saturday. One subplot is the state of the pitch at Q2, which on Thursday was showing signs of wear and tear, especially at the goal mouths and the corners where substitutes warm up.
Changes: As mentioned above, Austin’s schedule has necessitated some changes from new coach Davy Arnaud, but we have seen some tactical adjustments for the better. First and foremost, putting Ervin Torres on the field more has been a revelation as the 18-year-old has stood out against Liga MX clubs, including Club America on Thursday. This is what strong MLS organizations do (and a staple of Jim Curtin’s Philadelphia sides): bring players from their academy and Next Pro sides into the first team for them to perform. The other half of this is Besard Sabovic playing like the player we saw in his highlight videos when he came over, providing stability in midfield while also progressing the ball forward. Austin suddenly has a more competent and interesting center of midfield mix, which has greatly helped their move to a three-man backline in some recent matches.
Myrto Uzuni, happy: The Albanian capped off his strong Leagues Cup form with a beautiful finish to get Austin FC even with Club America on Thursday, his 4th in the last two matches after a first-half hat trick against supposed soccer team Puebla. He’s formed a strong partnership with Christian Ramirez and has already set the record for most goals scored by an Austin FC striker in a season, with 10. A big part of this success has been the move to utilizing him as more of a support striker, allowing him to find time and space to run into or explore, as opposed to previous seasons where he was used as a more standard striker who was always covered up by the other team’s center backs.
Prediction: Austin FC: 2 - FC Dallas: 1
WRITTEN BY SCOTT SPECHT
