FRISCO, Texas - FC Dallas' season-opening lineup features a number of offseason acquisitions as they take on the Colorado Rapids at 7PM at Toyota Stadium.Here's tonight's lineup notes, pres. by UnitedHealthcare.
New Starters
FC Dallas welcomed six new players during the offseason and three of them get the start on opening day. Spanish center back José MartÃnez gets the start on the left side of central defense and South American forwards Jáder Obrian and Freddy Vargas start at right wing and left wing respectively.
3-4-3
Luchi opts to field his team in a 3-4-3 formation, straying from his prototypical 4-3-3. The formation sees a third center back inserted into the backline while the full backs (in this case Johnny Nelson and Ryan Hollingshead) push further forward into the midfield to become wing backs. Andrés Ricaurte and Bryan Acosta will sit in the middle of the park behind a front three of Obrian, Vargas and Franco Jara.
Pax is Back
Homegrown midfielder Paxton Pomykal is back and available from the bench after missing the majority of 2020 through injury. Pomykal has been working hard during the offseason and preseason to get himself back into the shape that saw him have a breakout 2019 season where he was named to the MLS All-Star team.
Full Lineup
Starting XI: Jimmy Maurer; Bressan, Matt Hedges, José MartÃnez, Ryan Hollingshead, Johnny Nelson, Bryan Acosta, Andrés Ricaurte, Jáder Obrian, Freddy Vargas, Franco Jara
Substitutes — Phelipe, Nkosi Tafari, Eddie Munjoma, Edwin Cerrillo, Tanner Tessmann, Paxton Pomykal, Kalil ElMedkhar, Ricardo Pepi, Dante Sealy
