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FC Dallas and Columbus Crew SC meet on Saturday night at the Toyota Stadium, Frisco, Texas in an MLS regular season week 15 fixture.
Columbus Crew are currently the Eastern Conference leaders with 30 points while Dallas are fourth in the Western Conference, despite scoring the third fewest goals in the conference.
The Black & Gold suffered only their second loss of the season in their previous outing against Toronto FC while FC Dallas are coming off a 0-0 draw against Orlando City SC on Sunday.
Dallas need a win to keep themselves in fourth position in the conference, as only two points separate them from eighth-placed Real Salt Lake, but they will need to find their goalscoring touch against Crew, who have the best defensive record across both conferences.
Also See: MLS Standings, MLS Top Schedule
FC Dallas vs Columbus Crew SC Head-to-Head
FC Dallas and Columbus Crew both joined MLS in 1996 as two of the 10 charter clubs and have faced each other in league action 47 times. The current head-to-head record is pretty even, with Columbus having recorded 19 wins against 17 for Dallas while the remaining 11 ended in a stalemate.
In recent encounters, it is Crew who have enjoyed the upper hand, having won five of their last 10 encounters, including their latest meeting back in March 2019, when they defeated Dallas 1-0 at the Mapfre Stadium.
FC Dallasform guide: W-W-W-L-D
Columbus Crew form guide: W-D-W-W-L
FC Dallas vs Columbus Crew SC Team News
Heading into the inter-conference fixture, FC Dallas will be without Paxton Pomykal, who underwent successful hip surgery last month and will be in recovery for the next five-month.
Head coach Luci Gonzalez will also be without Kyle Zobeck, who has not been included in the squad since September 20 due to a thigh injury. Apart from that, Gonzalez has the rest of his squad to choose from.
Injured: Kyle Zobeck (thigh), Paxton Pomykal (hip)
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Columbus Crew continue to be without Vito Wormgoor, Darlington Nagbe and Fanendo Adi while Waylon Francis also remains out due to an undisclosed reason.
Head coach Caleb Porter has made very few changes to his squad this season and, as his charges have delivered results, we do not expect him to make any changes from the side that lost to Toronto.
Injured: Vito Wormgoor (ankle), Darlington Nagbe (knee), Fanendo Adi (groin), Waylon Francis (undisclosed)
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
FC Dallas vs Columbus Crew SC Predicted XI
FC Dallas predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Jimmy Maurer, John Nelson, Reto Ziegler, Matt Hedges, Bryan Reynolds; Bryan Acosta, Thiago Dos Santos; Santiago Mosquera, Andrés Ricaurte, Fafa Picault; Franco Jara
Columbus Crew SC predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Eloy Room; Milton Valenzuela, Aboubacar Keita, Jonathan, Harrison Afful; Fatai Alashe, Artur; Lucas Zelarayán, Pedro Santos, Luis Espinoza; Gyasi Zardes
FC Dallas vs Columbus Crew SC Prediction
Goals have been difficult to come by for FC Dallas but they deserve the credit for making the most of them and rising to 14th in the Western Conference standings. Columbus Crew have the best defensive record in the league and at the same time have also been quite prolific in front of goal.
Both teams will rely on their defensive solidity in the game, but Columbus Crew's better goal-scoring form gives them an advantage heading into the match and we think they will have no problem overcoming the challenge on Saturday night.
Final prediction: FC Dallas 0-2 Columbus Crew SC
