Five Things is a weekly series on SportingKC.com that highlights the top storylines, players to watch and matchday programming ahead of each game throughout the season.
A top-of-the-table clash beckons Sunday as Sporting Kansas City (16-8-8, 56 points) visits FC Dallas (16-7-9, 57 points) in the penultimate round of the MLS regular season. FOX Sports Kansas City, FOX Sports Midwest and FOX Sports GO will provide three hours of live coverage beginning at 4 p.m. CT, while local radio broadcasts will air on ESPN 94.5 FM (English) and ESPN Deportes KC 1480 AM (Spanish).
Sunday’s scintillating Western Conference showdown, one of six slated to kick off simultaneously at 4 p.m. CT, could go a long way in deciding which teams finish among the top two in the West and earn Knockout Round byes in the Audi 2018 MLS Cup Playoffs. With plenty riding on this marquee matchup at Toyota Stadium, here are five things you absolutely need to know about #DALvSKC.
1. Tight at the Top
‘Tis the time of year where fans should be keeping a perpetual eye on the MLS standings. With two regular season matchdays still to play, FC Dallas holds a slender one-point lead at the summit ahead of both Sporting KC and LAFC. Manager Peter Vermes’ side holds the head-to-head tiebreaker with LAFC by virtue of better goal difference. Lurking close behind are Seattle (53 points), Portland (51 points) and Real Salt Lake (49 points) to round out the current playoff picture.
Keep in mind: the top two teams in the West at the end of the regular season will have Knockout Round byes to the two-legged conference semifinals, playing on the road Nov. 4 and hosting Nov. 11. The No. 3 and No. 4 seeds will host single-elimination Knockout Round matches on either Oct. 31 or Nov. 1. Sporting KC can still finish anywhere between first and fifth in the West, which makes Sunday’s contest all the more important.
Even if they defeat FC Dallas, Sporting KC cannot clinch a top-two seed this weekend. They can, however, clinch a top-four finish, which would guarantee a home playoff game at Children’s Mercy Park for the first time since Sporting KC hoisted the 2013 MLS Cup. In order for this to happen, any one of the three scenarios below must come to fruition.
- Sporting KC beats FC Dallas, OR
- Real Salt Lake beats or ties Portland, OR
- Sporting KC ties FC Dallas, AND
Houston beats Seattle
3. Coming in Hot
Sporting KC won’t be short on momentum going into the weekend. Trailing 1-0 at halftime of Wednesday’s visit to Vancouver, the team staged a stunning late rally to run out 4-1 victors at BC Place. Yohan Croizet ignited the comeback with a sweetly struck 62nd-minute equalizer, Daniel Salloi fired his side ahead on 82 minutes, Gianluca Busio became the second-youngest goal scorer in MLS history to seal the win, and Salloi added gloss to the result with a 97th-minute tap-in.
The win over the Whitecaps marked the first time Sporting KC had ever scored four road goals in an MLS match. The game effectively turned on its head with the introduction of substitutes Busio, Johnny Russell and Khiry Shelton. While the 16-year-old Busio stole the headlines, Russell was rampant on the wing and Shelton’s signature hold-up play resulted in a pair of assists to Salloi. The four-goal salvo gives Sporting KC 60 goals this season, one shy of tying the club record set during the inaugural 1996 MLS campaign.
The two previous meetings between the clubs this season, both played at Children’s Mercy Park, have produced 10 total goals. Sporting KC prevailed 3-2 in the U.S. Open Cup Round of 16 on June 16, receiving a Salloi brace and a world-class volley from Croizet, before hat-trick hero Michael Barrios and FC Dallas exacted revenge with a 3-2 regular season win on July 28.
Vermes’ men are 1-5-3 in their last nine trips to Toyota Stadium, with the lone win coming by a 4-1 scoreline on June 12, 2011. FC Dallas boasts a 10-1-5 home record in 2018, and strangely enough, their only home defeat came at the hands of last-place San Jose on Aug. 4.
5. Sold Out
Sunday’s contest is part of the highly anticipated National Soccer Hall of Fame Induction Weekend. In conjunction with the opening of the new National Soccer Hall of Fame, three high-profile events will take place in Frisco, Texas. On Saturday, the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be followed by a concert featuring Grammy Award-winners Imagine Dragons at Toyota Stadium.
The following afternoon, Sporting KC and FC Dallas will lock horns in one of 2018’s biggest regular season matches to date. FC Dallas has announced a sellout for Sunday’s game, which will only add further excitement to the encounter.
