Saturday night in Texas, the Vancouver Whitecaps and FC Dallas will battle in the second match of a best-of-three series for a spot in the second round. While the Whitecaps are undoubtedly full of confidence after the opener, FC Dallas will be looking for answers after failing to register a shot in a 3–0 loss at BC Place this past Sunday.

I think everyone knew going into the series that Vancouver was the better team, but there were a couple of arguments that could be made if you thought Dallas had a chance of pulling off an upset.

The first was that Vancouver’s depleted backline would crumble under the pressure of the playoffs. So far, that has certainly not been the case. Both Ralph Priso and Belal Halbouni were excellent in match one against Dallas, and with Mathias Laborda back from suspension and MLS Defender of the Year Tristan Blackmon close to a comeback, Jesper Sørensen will have a wider set of options this upcoming weekend.

The second argument that could be made was that Dallas’s direct and physical style could lead the Whitecaps into a trap match. Dallas can be dangerous on the counterattack, and they have the physical presence to score on set pieces. Sometimes, all you need is a quick and dirty goal to flip the match in your favor. However, in the opener at BC Place, Dallas was simply not afforded any of those looks. In addition to failing to record a shot, Dallas had just 38% possession, won only one corner, and Petar Musa had the fewest touches of any player to log the full 90+ minutes.

Now, I’m not saying that Dallas should completely break the mold and go full tiki-taka for the match this weekend, because that’s just not possible given the group at Eric Quill’s disposal. However, I think it’s essential that Dallas at least demonstrates some composure in midfield when retaining possession; otherwise, this could be another bloodbath.

The absence of Patrickson Delgado due to injury is a big blow, so I think more composed players on the ball, like Pedrinho and Logan Farrington, will have to start in attack for the Texas side if they are to have any chance. At the other end of the pitch, Ramiro struggled against Ali Ahmed, so Quill may have to consider shifting Shaq Moore out to the wingback spot for some extra cover. This would slot Lalas Abubakar back into Dallas’s back three — which I’m sure the Whitecaps would not mind, given recent history.

Ultimately, FC Dallas needs a lot to go right just to have a chance in this match, and even if they are able to pull off the upset, the reward would be another trip to BC Place with their season on the line.

Turning things over to the Whitecaps, one of the storylines from this week was Edier Ocampo suffering a knock in training, so his status will be a point of emphasis heading into the weekend. If Edier can’t go, I would guess Laborda will shift out to the fullback spot, as he’s the most natural fit for that role.

Otherwise, I can’t imagine Vancouver will change much. Emmanuel Sabbi is coming off one of his best games for the Whitecaps, and Daniel Rios scored a goal in match one. Given this, I think those two will be rewarded with another start down in Texas. Ryan Gauld and Kenji Cabrera continue to be a dynamic duo off the bench, and though both could make a case to start, I don’t see any reason to do so given the current state of the series.

In the end, I think FC Dallas will make adjustments and put up a more competitive effort in this match. However, I can’t see that being enough to overcome the quality gap between these two sides. When you add in the fact that FC Dallas collected more points on the road this season than they did at home, all signs point to Vancouver advancing in two games. I’ll predict a 2–1 Whitecaps win in Frisco.