Three-minute preview: FC Dallas at Sporting Kansas City
8 p.m. Friday, at Sporting Park
TV/RADIO: KMCI-TV (Ch. 38), Unimas; WHB (810 AM), KDTD (1340 AM)
ABOUT FC DALLAS (6-3-3, 21 points): The team has been efficient on the offense end. It leads MLS with 18 goals, despite ranking only 17th in the league in shots on goal. Five players have scored at least twice, led by Blas Perez, who has five goals in 10 appearances. Fabian Castillo, who is particularly effective on the counter, leads the team with five assists.
ABOUT SPORTING KC (4-2-6, 18 points): The club extended its unbeaten streak to five games with Saturday’s scoreless draw in Seattle.Sporting KC will play without Seth Sinovic (concussion), Paulo Nagamura (back strain), Jacob Peterson (hamstring strain) and Bernardo Anor (hamstring strain). Dom Dwyer and Marcel de Jong are questionable, and Roger Espinoza is likely to return after a two-game absence. Coach Peter Vermes says Graham Zusi is ready to take on a more prominent role after being limited to a reserve role last week in his return from a concussion.
BOTTOM LINE: FC Dallas handed Sporting KC a 3-1 defeat on March 14, though Sporting KC believes a missed offsides call — which directly led to an FC Dallas goal — changed the complexion of the match. If Sporting KC avenges that loss, it can pull even with FC Dallas atop the Western Conference standings. The top eight teams in the West are separated by only five points.
PREDICTION: Sporting KC 1, FC Dallas 1
To reach Sam McDowell, call 816-234-4869 or send email to smcdowell@kcstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @SamMcDowell11.
This story was originally published May 28, 2015 at 3:38 PM with the headline "Three-minute preview: FC Dallas at Sporting Kansas City."