Sporting KC v FC Dallas: Preview, Predictions, Stats, Injuries, Suspensions and Roster Changes

Sporting KC @ FC Dallas

When: Wednesday, October 14, 2020 at 7:30 PM CT

Where: Toyota Stadium

How to Watch/Stream: Fox Sports Kansas City | Fox Sports Midwest | ESPN+ (out of market)

How to Listen: Sports Radio 810 WHB | La Grande 1340 AM (Spanish)

FC Dallas play very ugly soccer and Sporting Kansas City will be subjected to that for the third time in the last six weeks. The last two meetings were filled with Dallas fouls and time wasting, even when the score was only level. It just got worse when Dallas took the lead.

After the last meeting Peter Vermes had some stern words for Luchi Gonzalez and his staff. It’ll be interesting to see if they respond but trying to not muck up the game or if they do what they do. I honestly have only seen highlights of them in between the KC games. It’ll be on the officiating crew of Armando Villareal to take control of the game and issue cards early and often if Dallas play ugly. Villareal ranks near the middle in yellows and fouls given, but he’s only handed out a single red card.

Since the September 19th win over SKC, Dallas have gone into a bit of a funk going 0-2-2 while Sporting have gone 3-1-0, including three straight wins. Sporting play four of their last six (not including any potential Colorado Rapids rescheduling — which seems unlikely) on the road where they have been surprisingly strong going 4-1-1 on the year.

What’s Changed for Dallas Since the Last Meeting?

Only a single move has been made since the last times these clubs locked up. Dallas added Homegrown signing — defender Justin Che.

For all the other moves from this year and the 2019-20 offseason, check out our prior preview.

Injuries*

Sporting KC

OUT - Felipe Gutierrez (knee surgery), Graham Zusi (ankle)

QUESTIONABLE - Richard Sanchez (unknown), Matt Besler (hamstring), Khiry Shelton (hip)

*This is about as close to official as it gets with all the “questionable” players simply being guesses since they aren’t on the injury report in 2020.

Dallas

OUT - Paxton Pomykal (labrum surgery), Santiago Mosquera & Matt Hedges (not medically cleared)

QUESTIONABLE - Unknown

Suspensions

Sporting KC - None

• Suspended Next Yellow: Ilie Sanchez
• Suspended with Two More Yellows: Alan Pulido

Dallas - None

• Suspended Next Yellow: Michael Barrios
• Suspended with Two More Yellows: Bressan, Thiago Santos

Stats

Sporting KC

GOALS: Johnny Russell (6), Alan Pulido (5), Gadi Kinda, Khiry Shelton (4) Erik Hurtado (3), Gerso Fernandes (2), Roger Espinoza, Graham Zusi, Gianluca Busio (1)

ASSISTS: Pulido (4), Gerso, Busio, Russell (3), Luis Martins, Kinda (2), Roberto Puncec, Shelton, Jaylin Lindsey, Felipe Hernandez, Zusi, Espinoza, Amadou Dia (1)

Dallas

GOALS: Franco Jara (5), Santiago Mosquera (4), Reto Ziegler, Ricardo Pepi, Zdenek Ondrasek (2), six with one (1)

ASSISTS: Michael Barrios (3), Bryan Acosta (2), 14 with one (1)

Form

Sporting KC - L / L / W / W / W (9 points)

Dallas - W / L / D / D / L (5 points)

Starting XI Predictions

Time permitting, this will come out closer to the game.

Score Predictions

This is tough. I’ve made no prediction against Nashville SC and was sour on KC ahead of the prior two meetings, so I basically don’t know anything when it comes to this winning streak. They’ve won, but I’d argue it was against bad teams. I’m tempted to pick against Sporting just out of some weird karmic ooze that will allow them to go against my writing and win (which I think we all want to happen). However, I’ll take a more fence sitting position.

The game is in Dallas, where the Texas side is far better than they are on the road. However, the oppressive summer heat should mostly beyond us but tomorrow’s high is a balmy 90 degrees. That, coupled with KC playing their fourth game in 11 days with their first travel since the beginning of October probably adds up to a tough outing. Couple that with Alan Pulido still being gone (and apparently barely playing for Mexico) and a potential Khiry Shelton injury and KC feels likely to end their winning streak.

Let’s hope I’m wrong.

1-1 Draw

What do you think? Predictions in the comments are welcome. Let’s chat about it.

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