What to build: The 2024 season was not a good season for FC Dallas, as they were in 13th place with a record of 1 win, 4 losses, and 1 loss. However, there may be light at the end of the tunnel. Dallas picked up a point on the road last weekend with a scoreless draw against St. Louis City. This was FCD's first shutout of the season, and the team looked more dangerous offensively, with 1.4 expected goals, the most since February's opening day win over the San Jose Earthquakes. It's hard to get too excited about a 0-0 tie, but this performance was reminiscent of the past two seasons under coach Nico Estevez, and it looks like Dallas could break out of the slump that has plagued 2024 thus far. It gave me hope that it was possible. It will be up to the players and coaching staff to build on their performance in St. Louis and translate into three points at home against Seattle.
Reinforcement material:There may be some positive news for FC Dallas. The club is suffering an early injury crisis and is without a number of typical starters. Asiel Illarramendi, Marco Farfan, Jesus Ferreira, Paxton Pomical, Giovane Jesus, and Alan Velasco will miss most (if not all) of the 2024 season, and their absences will I felt it keenly. However, midfielder Ilarramendi and defender Farfan are returning to full fitness and could be available for Saturday's game against Seattle. Considering their importance in midfield and defense respectively, their return would be a huge boost to FCD's chances against the Sounders.
Sounders: It's been a strange start to the season for the Seattle Sounders. Despite being perennial championship favorites, the Sounders are off to a winless start through the first five games of 2024 (0 wins, 3 losses, 2 draws). But Brian Schmetzer's team exploded last weekend, defeating CF Montreal 5-0 at Lumen Field.The fact that Seattle seems to have come into its own right From FC Dallas' perspective, it's pretty bad timing before heading to Toyota Stadium, but the home team has a little more work to do. Dallas ended its 2023 season at Seattle in the first round of the playoffs last November, but FCD players certainly haven't forgotten that. A win on Saturday won't heal the wounds of 2023, but it won't hurt either.
