Sporting KC vs FC Dallas
Date and Time: Sunday, July 7, 2024 at 7:30pm
Location: Children's Mercy Park
How to watch: Apple MLS Season Pass
Just when you thought things might start to look up, they didn't. Sporting Kansas City looked to be on a roll last weekend, beating Austin at home. The win offered a glimmer of hope that maybe this was the start of better form. But those hopes were dashed on Thursday night when the Colorado Rapids scored on a 94th-minute penalty to beat Sporting, 2-1. Sporting's only goal came from Jonny Russell just after halftime. It was Russell's 60th goal with the team and 150th as a pro.
The team and fans don't have to dwell on this loss for long as Sporting KC will have to get ready as FC Dallas comes to town on Sunday night. Dallas has struggled so far this season, sitting in 11th place in the West Division with a record of 6 wins, 10 losses, 5 draws and 23 points. Sporting Kansas City is currently sitting in 13th place with a record of 4 wins, 13 losses, 5 draws and 17 points.
FC Dallas recently came from behind to beat Portland 2-1 on Wednesday night in Dallas. Dallas' scorers in the game were forward Petar Musa and defender Nkosi Tafari.
Kansas City's recent form
FC Dallas' recent form
- June 15 vs. St. Louis City – 2-0 win
- June 19th: Won 5-3 against Minnesota
- June 22nd @ Seattle – Lost 2-3
- June 29th: Lost 0-1 to FC Cincinnati
- July 3rd vs Portland: 2-1 win
Injury/Availability Report
Official injury reports are not available until one day prior to game day, and injuries and availability listed are based on reports submitted throughout the week prior to the game for both teams.
Sporting Kansas City:
**Daniel Salloi came off the bench in Thursday night's game and played the second half.
FC Dallas:
- Absent – Patrickson Delgado (knee), Jesus Ferreira (thigh), Liam Fraser (thigh), Geovan Jesus (knee), Paxton Pomykal (knee), Allan Velasco (knee), Sebastian Ibeaga (yellow cards)
- Doubtful – No
statistics:
Sporting Kansas City
Goals: Willy Aghada (5), Eric Tommy, Jonny Russell (4), Alan Pulido, Steven Afrifa (3), Remi Walter, Danny Roselló, Arenis Vargas, Jake Davis (2), Nemanja Radoja, Memo Rodríguez, Daniel Salloy, Robert Castellanos, Marinos Tsionis, Tim Leibold (1)
Assists: Rodriguez (5), Saloy, Russell, Pulido, Tommy (3), Davis, Aghada, Kyrie Shelton, Ladoya (2), Andrew Fontas, Tim Leibold, Robert Volodah, Walter, Zolhan Basson, Caden Pierre (1)
FC Dallas
Goals: Petar Musa (10), Jesus Ferreira (4), Patrickson Delgado (3), Aseil Ilarramendi, Nkosi Tafari (2), Eugene Ansah, Paul Arriola, Logan Farrington, Liam Fraser, Sam Junquah, Sebastian Ledgett, Sebastian Ibeaga, Dante Seely (1).
Assists: Leggett (5), Ferreira (4), Arriola, Delgado, Farrington, Illarramendi, Bernardo Kamungo (3), Fraser, Musa (2), Marco Farfan, Ibeaga, Juncua, Tsiki Ntsabeleng, Seely, Emma Twumasi (1).
prediction
Sunday's matchup will be an interesting one in terms of gameplans. Both teams are below the playoff line and have a lot of ground to recover from, but both teams will likely be looking forward to their midweek matchup. In a strange twist of the schedule, SKC and FC Dallas will meet again on Wednesday at Children's Mercy Park. This matchup will be a quarterfinal matchup for the U.S. Open Cup.
Will the teams play their normal games on Sunday, or will one or both teams change course and not show their cards entirely before Wednesday's more important games? It's unclear what to expect.
All I know is that Dallas has a lot of injuries, including one of their most dangerous players, Jesus Ferreira. But FC Dallas acquired Petar Musa from Benfica in February. He's been in great form this year, scoring 10 goals and providing 2 assists in 20 games. Sporting Kansas City's defense will have to keep an eye on where he is at all times.
Sporting Kansas City's injury list is shrinking. Daniel Salloi is back from his ankle injury, and Remi Walter and Robert Castellanos appear to be in training as well. From this, it's reasonable to assume they will be back in the rotation soon. With the “regular” players back in the starting line-up, we should see more goals scored. Jonny Russell has been in good form recently, but Daniel Salloi, Alan Pulido and others will need to step up and join him if SKC wants to perform well in both Major League Soccer and the US Open Cup.
Children's Mercy Park has not proved to be a fortress so far this season, but Sporting won their last home game and will be hoping to start a very busy schedule with two home wins.
Prediction: 2-1 SKC win
