Lumen Field has been a house of horrors for FC Dallas.
Dallas hasn’t won in Seattle in any competition in 21 consecutive matches (0-17-4) since a 1-0 victory in the 2011 U.S. Open Cup semifinals.
Dallas (4-5-4, 16 points) will attempt to end that streak on Saturday afternoon against the resurgent Sounders (5-4-5, 20 points).
FCD is coming off a tough week. It suffered a 2-0 loss at home to Houston last weekend in the Texas Derby, then had to play extra time before losing in penalty kicks Wednesday at the New York Red Bulls in the U.S. Open Cup.
Dallas is 3-1-3 on the road this season, though its six-match road unbeaten streak was snapped 5-0 at San Diego on May 3.
“We expect a resilient squad, a squad that’s going to be tested and we need to try to put them out early, destroy that bit of confidence that they may have going into this game,” said Sounders midfielder Cristian Roldan, whose team is 4-1-2 over its past seven games.
“We need to bring the intensity that we have in the last seven games,” Roldan added. “We want to score goals. We want to push the tempo as well as be controlled in possession and defensively.”
Dallas has gotten a recent boost from the return of midfielder Paxton Pomykal, who missed all but six minutes last season with a knee injury. Pomykal played limited minutes in each of FCD’s past two league matches and went 55 minutes against the Red Bulls.
“Having Paxton back has been amazing, he’s raised the level of play in our training,” FC Dallas coach Eric Quill said. “To see him back on the grass and in front of the fans was truly special.”
For Seattle’s Jesus Ferreira, it will be his first match against his former club after being traded in the offseason. Ferreira is still looking for his first Seattle goal, though he’s second on the club with five assists.
–Field Level Media
