Match Preview - FC Dallas
Game Info
Kickoff: 7:40pm CT
Watch: Apple TV
Location: Toyota Stadium - Frisco, TX
All-Time H2H Record
Austin FC has a 3W-3D-9L all-time record against FC Dallas.
Not only has Dallas had the upper hand in this rivalry all-time, they’ve also dominated of late, winning four of the last five meetings (including a 2-1 victory last month) and earning a draw in the other.
ATX has a significant home/road split in this matchup, with a 0W-1D-6L all-time record in Frisco, while owning a much more palatable 3W-2D-3L record at Q2 Stadium against FC Dallas. And of course, the Verde and Black won the only playoff matchup between the two teams to date back in 2022.
FC Dallas Recent Form
After coming into Q2 Stadium back on August 16th and earning all three points, FC Dallas has caught fire in league play. Including that result in Austin just over a month ago, our rivals to the north have recorded 16 points from their last seven games played. They’re currently on a three game win-streak, with home victories over Sporting KC and Portland Timbers and a road win over Minnesota United, the latter of which they were without star DP forward Petar Musa.
Musa returned for their Saturday night victory over the Timbers, albeit in a reserve role, and should be ready to rejoin the starting XI against ATX. The 28-year old Croatian striker has recorded four goals and two assists in six all-time games against Austin FC, a goal contribution pace that challenges the long reign of Jeremy Ebobisse for the title of “Verde Killer”.
As we’ve said many times on the show, including Thursday’s Episode 335 previewing this match, someone buy this guy! Musa is one of the top attacking players in MLS, but you don’t have to take our word for it, just check the stat sheet. Not only does the big Croatian crush our favorite team, he’s been doing the same to the rest of the league all season and is currently just one goal back of Lionel Messi for the golden boot lead (and has played 289 fewer minutes than the Argentinian legend in 2026).
Although Musa is the head of the FC Dallas snake, he’s had more help in 2026 than previous seasons, even as the name value of the supporting cast may not carry the same weight as years past. Former MLS Superdraft pick Logan Farrington has nine goals and five assists in just 1,289 minutes and off-season acquisition Joaquin Valiente’s 12 assists are second-most in MLS.
Despite the stellar form for Frisco coming into this match, they haven’t been as dominant statistically as a team as the recent results would indicate, and that could really be applied to their season as a whole. FC Dallas is over performing their expected goals (xG) at the second highest rate in MLS, behind only Supporter’s Shield leading Nashville SC, scoring 49 goals on 37.2 xG in 2026.
Some of that can potentially be explained away by the idea that the Dallas attack is just extremely adept at finishing their chances. Sometimes, beating the “underlying numbers” isn’t some random run of good fortune. Occasionally, a team outpaces the algorithms because they’re just that good. Does FC Dallas fit that mold? The team is certainly in a stronger spot to make that case after their recent run of form.
Frisco is now fifth in MLS in goals per game, behind only Inter Miami, Vancouver Whitecaps, FC Cincinnati and Nashville SC, but only 18th in xG. Dallas also has the second lowest average possession in MLS with just 41.9% of the ball per game. Clearly they’re able to strike quickly when the opportunity presents itself, because the team is also 11th in big chances created.
We’re not too far removed from seeing a crucial sequence with that same script playing out right in front of us in The North End last month. The match winning goal from Petar Musa came from a quick transition moment against a disorganized Austin back line. It wasn’t the first time that Musa had punished a lapse in intensity by a Verde and Black defensive unit, but the ATX faithful certainly hope it was the last.
Austin FC Recent Form
Snip snap, snip snap! It certainly doesn’t feel like Austin FC is on the second-longest unbeaten streak in club history in MLS play, especially if you’ve been in attendance for the three consecutive draws at Q2 Stadium during this stretch. Over the last handful of weeks the Verde and Black have produced let downs in front of the home fans only to turn around and earn unexpected road victories to stay attached to the wild card chase.
Sunday evening’s upset win over the Vancouver Whitecaps was the club’s first ever victory at BC Place and marked the third straight road win (after going winless in their first ten tries in 2026) and sixth straight match unbeaten for ATX. It’s an incredible turnaround in road form for one of the lowest teams in the MLS table, especially when you consider that Austin FC’s record against Seattle, Portland and Vancouver on the road prior to this three game stretch was 2W-4D-9L.
Twelve points from a six-game span is also something that’s only happened four times in club history prior to the current stretch and according to Austin FC Communications, only four teams in MLS have collected more points over the last six matchdays. Yet after all of that positivity, this is still a team sitting in 13th place in the Western Conference with just nine matches remaining.
The squad should get a boost in this match with the expected return of Myrto Uzuni, who posted on his Instagram story on Tuesday afternoon declaring himself “back” with a picture from the morning training session. Uzuni is no longer the team’s leading scorer in league play after Christian Ramirez’s brace against Vancouver and is now tied with Facundo Torres for the team lead in goal contributions, but there’s little doubt that the Albanian forward has been the team’s best offensive weapon in 2026. Don’t forget, Uzuni won the Leagues Cup golden boot with his four goals across four games, adding an assist for good measure.
The 16 goal contributions across all competitions for Uzuni are already tied for the fourth most in a single season in club history, trailing only Sebastián Driussi (32) and Diego Fagundez (23) from the 2022 season, Owen Wolff’s 17 from 2025 and tied with Driussi’s mark from 2023. It’s notable that Uzuni has only played in 23 games of a possible 30 to date in 2026 with nine matches left to play in the regular season and a playoff appearance still mathematically possible, he’s pacing to potentially match Fagundez’s career year statistically.
Austin FC also has a number of milestones it can reach this Saturday against FC Dallas. Of course, this is also a venue at which they’ve never won, so a victory would be the club’s first against their in-state rivals at their house. They can also tie the franchse record for longest unbeaten streak with a win or draw and a win would match the club’s longest road winning streak that was set back on July 9, 2022.
Uzuni returning to the lineup should give us a “clean” injury report on Friday afternoon, but the team will be without Guilherme Biro for the next pair of matches after he picked up a yellow card to secure an accumulation suspension early in the second half against Vancouver and subsequently received a second yellow card, adding a second suspension for his sending off. With the international break approaching at the end of the month, we won’t see Biro in a competitive match until the October 10th home fixture against Supporter’s Shield leading Nashville SC.
Biro had started the previous six matches at left center back. His absence likely provides a chance for Jon Bell to shift over to that left side in the back three, while interim head coach Davy Arnaud can slot Oleksandr Svatok back in centrally. From my own personal fandom perspective, I’m hoping to see new acquisition Chris Applewhite making the trip with the team and taking the gameday roster slot vacated by Biro’s suspension.
Keeping that fandom perspective, I can illustrate my own frustrations about the failures of our favorite team in Frisco (and already did on yesterday’s episode), but one doesn’t have to look past the ever-dwindling traveling supporters to this match to get the gist of how most of the sicko’s enthusiasm for the repeated pain of this trip has waned. What was an oversold visitor’s section as recently as 2023 (where Nkosi Tafari’s no-look backwards header off a long throw with ten seconds remaining in second half stoppage time kept the Verde faithful from celebrating a second straight Copa Tejas in FC Dallas’ house) is now reportedly just two rows in the top corner for this match.
Of course, there are other factors at play. School is back in session, so is college and professional football and the hike up to Frisco is longer than the trek to Houston. Also, the team has mostly stunk in 2026 and spent the first ten road fixtures without a win!
But we’ll be in attendance once again at one of the most soulless stadiums known to man (though we are intrigued to see some of the completed renovations in this entirely-too-long project at Toyota Stadium), along with a small handful of other Verde sickos, keeping our promise to attend every away match against FC Dallas until ATX is able to secure that elusive first victory. We’d love for Austin FC to finally hold up their end of the bargain and earn all three points here. Send us back home happy from Frisco for once!
Injury Report
ATX:
Myrto Uzuni (Probable - Lower Body)
DAL:
Anderson Julio (Doubtful - Lower Leg)
FC Dallas Players to Watch
Petar Musa - We talked about the star striker plenty earlier in the article and on Thursday’s preview episode, but it’s impossible to keep him out of this section. Musa has racked up an astonishing 66 goal contributions during his nearly three-year tenure in Dallas, which is eye popping considering he’s only made 72 starts to accumulate those stats. His talent was on display this summer at the FIFA World Cup, scoring an equalizing goal against England in the group stage, which was a much less stressful watch than when he’s typically dominating Austin FC. He is without a doubt the best player on the Dallas roster and the biggest danger to Austin’s back line.
Santiago Moreno - Moreno returned to MLS earlier this year as the second DP on the Dallas roster after departing Portland last season following a four-and-a-half year stint with the Timbers. He’s off to a slow start from a statistical perspective, with just five goal contributions in his 20 appearances for Dallas so far. Moreno had 61 contributions with the Timbers and is much more goal dangerous than his box scores have let on in 2026. He didn’t find the back of the net in the August meeting between these two clubs but looked like the best player on the pitch for long stretches, assisting the first Dallas goal and creating a game-high six chances in his 70 minutes.
Austin FC Keys to the Game
Focus On Firsts - When your favorite team is having a down year (or two… or three), it can be easy to point to all of the negative things that come with a scenario like that. But Austin FC has given us plenty of reasons to continue to pay attention as we inch into the latter parts of September, now able to count the remaining games of the season on two hands. Even after transferring a handful of the club’s most talented and promising pieces in the summer window, the remaining players have been competing their butts off. Not only can Austin FC do all of the things I mentioned earlier in the article that would be “firsts” for the club in this venue, but there’s another big “first” just waiting to be checked off the list. Brandon Vazquez’s first goal of 2026. As good as Christian Ramirez has been, I’m not of the mind that this team can complete their improbable push for a postseason berth without getting BV going in the goal scoring department. The perfect outcome for me this Saturday night is not just a victory over FC Dallas. Doing it with a Vazquez goal along the way would provide me with some true belief that this group can in fact earn at least a wild card spot by season’s end. For a team that’s been proving us wrong (for better or worse) over the last three weeks, who am I to say that this group “can’t” do something at this point. A night of firsts in Frisco, let’s do it!
Predictions
ZG - 2-1 FC Dallas
E - 2-1 Austin FC
