TORONTO - FC Dallas begins a stretch of three games in nine days and five over the next 16 tonight north of the border, taking on Toronto FC for the lone time in 2018. Oscar Pareja has made some changes to the lineup since last weekend at home:
Jesse’s Debut
After starting both CONCACAF Champions League matches for FCD early on, Jesse Gonzalez will make his 2018 MLS debut tonight at BMO Field. The Homegrown missed the first few weeks recovering from a nagging knee injury that limited him throughout the preseason and then a finger sprain shortly after his return from that. In his absence, Jimmy Maurer has gotten off to a stellar start and even held the job since Gonzalez returned to health, posting a 4-1-5 record as Dallas held the title of best defense in the league until a pair of late goals last week.
Changes at the Back
A week after he stepped in to a starting role in the middle, Maynor Figueroa takes over a role on the left side after Anton Nedyalkov suffered an injury this week in training and is expected to miss some time in the coming weeks with more details from the club to come.
Figueroa started at left back in the season opener with Nedyalkov out and will look to fill in for the 25-year old who has played all but 40 minutes since Week 2. The veteran started 18 games for FCD on the left last year.
A 4-3-3
After shifting to a 4-3-3 look over the course of games in recent weeks, Dallas will start a match in the formation for the first time in 2018. Combatting a Toronto team that likes to play through the middle, Jacori Hayes, Victor Ulloa and Kellyn Acosta will all look to provide FCD assistance in the center of the field and spring Santiago Mosquera and Michael Barrios on the flanks in transition. It is Barrios’ second start in five games, but he will tie Chris Wondolowski for the longest active streak in uninterrupted appearances (63) - at least until San Jose plays later tonight.
