FC DALLAS vs. SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES
2021 MLS Regular Season
April 24 - 2:30PM
PayPal Park – San Jose, CA
Univision, TUDN (Spanish) | MLS Twitter (English) | FCDallas.com/Radio | 1270AM
#SJvDAL
HEAD-TO-HEAD
- FCD record: 0-1-0 (1 pt., 7th in West)
- SJ record: 0-0-1 (0 pts., 10th in West)
- FCD vs. SJ all-time: 20-28-17 (77 GF, 100 GA)
- FCD vs. SJ away: 8-16-9 (38 GF, 56 GA)
FIRST ROAD TRIP
- FC Dallas embarks on its first away trip of the 2021 MLS season to take on the San Jose Earthquakes at the newly named PayPal Park this Saturday afternoon at 2:30PM. MLS is a league that's notoriously difficult to win when on the road but, as Luchi Gonzalez explains, his team is excited for its first opportunity away from home this year.
"Winning away will be vital for us for a playoff position and a higher seed in the playoffs. So we're absolutely really excited to go to San Jose, despite their result being good or bad, (we) focus on what we want to do and can do and believe in it." - Luchi
NEW FORMATION
- In FCD's first game of the season last week, Luchi strayed from his prototypical 4-3-3 and opted for a three at the back lineup. The 3-4-3 formation saw new signing José MartÃnez inserted next to Bressan and Matt Hedges as a third center back while the full backs (in that case Johnny Nelson and Ryan Hollingshead) pushed further up the field as wing backs. The added defender helped Dallas keep a shutout in the home opener so the 3-4-3 is something we could see more of as the season progresses.
SJ's MAN MARKING
- San Jose head coach MatÃas Almeyda is known for deploying a man-marking system all over the field. The unique play style made for some exciting games in 2020, as the Earthquakes scored 35 goals and conceded a league-high 51. So, San Jose's 23 games involved 86 goals, a whopping 3.74 goals per game. If Almeyda employs a similar tactic on Saturday afternoon, viewers could be in for a breathless 90 minutes.
"It's something that causes a lot of problems for the opponent," Luchi said on San Jose's man-marking. "It's unpredictable and can be very effective. It works sometimes and sometimes it doesn't but it certainly requires a lot of energy and intensity, which they play with. We need to be ready and we'll simulate some of those things this week, like we have the last few years when we have to play that."
