FC Dallas return home to face struggling Real Salt Lake
FC Dallas aim to get on track on their home pitch and earn the season sweep against Real Salt Lake when the two Western Conference rivals square off on Saturday in Frisco, Texas.
FC Dallas (4-4-3, 15 points) head home after playing their past three MLS matches on the road, the most recent a 5-0 loss against San Diego FC on May 3. Since that trainwreck against this season's expansion team, the Toros beat AV Alta FC 3-1 on Wednesday to advance to the Round of 16 in the U.S. Open Cup.
The shutout loss to San Diego was the third time over FC Dallas' last four league games that they went without a goal and the fourth time overall they were shut out this season. The Toros have been great away from home other than the setback in Southern California but are just 1-3-0 at home this season.
"If we can bring it back home and put that road resiliency in front of our home crowd," FC Dallas coach Eric Quill said, "I think we're going to shoot up the standings and be where we want to be."
Luciano Acosta and Petar Musa lead the team with three goals apiece while Musa has amassed three assists, all for a Dallas side that has scored just 14 goals all season.
Real Salt Lake (4-7-0, 12 points) have dropped three of their past four, including a 2-1 decision at West-leading Vancouver on May 3. RSL have struggled with their consistency this year and find themselves buried in 11th in the West table. At this point last season, Sal Lake sat atop the standings -- a spot they held onto for four months.
RSL are having trouble finding the net, as well, and have yet to capture consecutive games in 2025. Winning one on the road against Dallas would be a good first step.
"You see all the teams are struggling to win back-to-back games," RSL goalkeeper Rafael Cabral said. "It's not easy. All the teams in MLS are so close. As players, we have to look at the mirror and see what we can improve. Because if everybody does their jobs well, we are going to get more results."
Cabral, in his first year in Salt Lake City, has played every minute for the team thus far and stopped 41 shots, second in the league.
The Toros took the first match of the season between the sides, beating RSL 1-0 on the road on March 22. Salt Lake has won just twice in 23 all-time games on the road versus Dallas with seven draws.
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