FC Dallas will try to secure a playoff berth while the host Vancouver Whitecaps will attempt to clinch first place in the Western Conference playoffs when the teams meet on Decision Day on Saturday night.
Vancouver (18-6-9, 63 points), which leads second-place San Diego FC (18-9-6, 60 points) by three points, can clinch the top seed with a win or a draw. Dallas (10-12-11, 41 points) enters the contest in eighth place and would clinch a MLS Cup playoff spot with a win.
Dallas also could earn a playoff berth with a draw and either a Colorado Rapids loss or draw against Los Angeles FC, or a Real Salt Lake loss or draw at St. Louis City. Even if FC Dallas lose, a combination of dropped points by Colorado, RSL and/or the San Jose Earthquakes could send Los Toros to the postseason.
“This is a fighting group and they know what is at stake,” Dallas coach Eric Quill said, according to BigDSoccer.com. “Our mentality is going to be high for this game, and the fight has been out there in the training field this week. I’m really proud of who we are right now.”
Dallas will be without starting forwards Petar Musa (18 goals, six assists) and Logan Farrington (five goals, four assists), who are both suspended for the game.
“We’re not going to be scared,” Quill said. “We’re not going there to go up against the ropes to get knocked out. We’re going there to throw punches and (be) the group that we’ve been.”
Vancouver is led by 36-year-old German legend Thomas Muller, who has six goals and three assists in six matches since coming over from Bayern Munich, where he played on 13 Bundesliga championship squads as well as two Champions League winners.
Muller scored in the seventh minute of stoppage time on Oct. 11 to give the Whitecaps a 2-1 victory at Orlando City and move Vancouver into the top spot in the West.
Vancouver has only lost twice in 16 home matches (10-2-4) and is riding an eight-match unbeaten streak (5-0-3).
“It should be a fun game to watch,” Whitecaps coach Jesper Sorensen said. “There’s a lot at stake. Dallas has to win the game. … We have to win the game. I think both teams will go for it all the way, and it should be exciting for the spectators.”
Vancouver won the teams’ first meeting in Dallas, 1-0 on March 15 on a Tristan Blackmon header in the 54th minute.
–Field Level Media
