Dallas will have an opportunity to potentially move into a playoff position in the Western Conference when they return home to host Austin FC at Toyota Stadium on Saturday.
On Wednesday, the Toros scored in injury time to earn a 1-1 draw against the Seattle Sounders, while Austin put an end to their three-game losing streak, beating the Houston Dynamo 3-2.
Match preview
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Dallas are playing some of their best football of the season, and they are right back in the playoff picture out west, unbeaten in their previous three fixtures.
Luchi Gonzalez has been patient with his team all season long, waiting for them to break loose and finally, it looks like they are starting to deliver.
Seven points in their last three fixtures is an outstanding achievement for a side who have struggled to maintain any success this year, stringing only one two-game winning streak so far in 2021.
It is not just the fact that they are starting to earn points, but they are doing it against some solid sides, blanking the Los Angeles Galaxy 4-0 and then following that up with a 2-1 win over Sporting Kansas City before drawing the Sounders.
They have also beaten the Supporters Shield leaders in the New England Revolution, so they have proven that they can compete, but now they will want to be wary of a let-down against a side who are 12th in the conference.
Having yet to play Austin this year, they will want to make sure that they do not get complacent and underestimate a side who may be second from the bottom but are only two points behind the Toros in the standings.
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After a frustrating end to July for Austin, losing three consecutive league games and failing to score in each one, something good finally came the way of this expansion side on Wednesday.
The lowest-scoring team in the league needed only seven minutes to take the lead against the Houston Dynamo, and despite getting scored on 20 minutes later, they were able to take advantage of a Dynamo red card in the first half to win for the first time since early July.
The key to success for the Verde-and-Black moving forward could be as simple as scoring goals for this team, who are looking to find some consistency and string together a winning streak.
In their inaugural campaign, Austin have only lost one fixture in which they have scored, but the problem is that they have failed to score in 10 of their 16 matches this season.
Josh Wolff will push home the message to keep pressing their opponents and force them to make errors, as they have a young team with a lot of speed who can cause turnovers.
They are only five points back of a playoff spot coming into their two-game road trip, and a pair of wins can do them a world of good, seeing as they face Dallas and Real Salt Lake, who currently hold the final playoff berth in the west.
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Team News
Dallas will be without Beni Redzic with an ankle sprain, while Justin Che could be out of the lineup as well with a lower leg injury.
On Wednesday, Franco Jara scored his third goal of the season to earn his side a point against the Sounders, and Nkosi Burgess earned his first assist of this campaign.
Gonzalez went with the same starting 11 against Seattle as he did versus Sporting KC, while Bryan Acosta came on as a substitute on Wednesday, his first appearance since returning from the Gold Cup with Honduras.
Austin midfielder Tomas Pochettino earned a brace in the first half against Houston, his first two goals of the season, while Cecilio Dominguez scored his team-leading fourth goal and his first since June 12.
Aaron Schoenfeld and Ulises Segura remain out with left knee injuries, Ben Sweat is still nursing an ACL problem, Danny Hoesen has a left hip issue, while Mckinze Gaines, who they signed late last week, has a left abductor strain and Daniel Pereira played for the first time since suffering a left rectus abdominal strain.
Centre-back Julio Cascante earned his first assist of the season earlier this week, while Sebastian Berhalter, the son of USA manager Gregg, started instead of Rodney Redes versus the Dynamo and was a strong presence in midfield, helping to create several great opportunities.
Dallas possible starting lineup:
Maurer; Hollingshead, Bressan, Burgess, Nelson; Acosta, Cerrillo; Schon, Ferreira, Jara; Pepi
Austin FC possible starting lineup:
Stuver; Lima, Cascante, Besler, Kolmanic; Fagundez, Ring, Berhalter, Gallagher; Pochettino; Dominguez
We say: Dallas 1-0 Austin FC
After finding ways to lose through the early portion of the season, the Toros are finally starting to find ways to win, and if there is one place that they know where to play well, it would be Toyota Stadium, where they are unbeaten in 2021.
Austin have shown that they are capable of an offensive flurry once in a while, but it seems to be few and far between, plus they have failed to score in three of their last four road fixtures.
Joel Lefevre
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Dallas win with a probability of 68.13%. A draw had a probability of 18.2% and a win for Austin FC had a probability of 13.69%.
The most likely scoreline for a Dallas win was 2-0 with a probability of 10.47%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.73%) and 1-0 (9.11%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (8.46%), while for an Austin FC win it was 1-2 (3.93%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with a 10.5% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 2-0 win for Dallas in this match.
