Guest columnist Drew Epperley is the founder and editor of WVHooligan.com. His blog covers everything MLS and U.S. Soccer. You can follow him on Twitter @WVHooligan.
FC Dallas (3-6-4, 13 points) travels to the Windy City to face their Brimstone Cup rivals, the Chicago Fire (4-3-3, 15 points), on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. CT, Fox Sports Southwest).
Both clubs are coming off disappointing results over the weekend. FC Dallas dropped two points at home against the Philadelphia Union in a 1-1 draw that saw Blas Perez score his fourth goal of the season. The Fire lost to the Portland Timbers 2-1 thanks to an own-goal off of Logan Pause.
This will be the lone meeting between the two rivals this season. It will be winner take all for the Brimstone Cup. In the event of a tie, FC Dallas would retain the cup since it currently possesses it.
Speed up front
The heart and soul of this lineup rests with the speed and creativity up front.
Former FC Dallas striker Dominic Oduro leads the way for the Fire this season after his breakout 2011 campaign. Oduro currently leads the club with four goals this season.
Oduro’s speed up front plays hand-in-hand with fellow front man Patrick Nyarko. The flexible forward/winger has a good mix of speed and skill to go between playing on the wing and playing up top in a more central role. Nyarko lead the Fire in assists last year and already has two to his name this season.
Marco Pappa is another dangerous element to the Fire’s attack. The Guatemalan has two goals and two assists this season. When he is playing at his best, he’s incredibly influential on how the Fire attacks in the final third of the field. He has a tendency to drift in and out of games when he is marked tightly though.
Sebastian Grazzini currently leads the Fire with three assists this year. The 31-year old attacking midfielder does an excellent job of linking up the key players in the attack for the Fire as well as creating a calming presence on the field.
Those four will typically play in front of holding midfielders Pavel Pardo and Logan Pause. Both veteran players help keep a strong shape in the midfield for the Fire as each plug in the remaining holes and gaps.
Pause will occasionally shift out to a flank role on the right side but he is more suited to be located more centrally in the midfield.
Bench options are a little limited for manager Frank Klopas but Orr Barouch and Federico Puppo have proven to be good additions in a pinch for the Fire this season. Puppo is a promising young player while Barouch is a big option to have up top to get on the end of set pieces.
Striker Chris Rolfe is another attacking element that could be used but he has been limited with an injury ever since re-signing with the Fire a few weeks ago.
Fire’s defense
The defense for Klopas has been fairly consistent this season. The addition of German international Arne Friedrich hasn’t done a ton yet for the Fire as he has been recently sidelined with a hamstring injury.
In the last game, Klopas started two young faces in the center part of the defense. Rookie Austin Berry joined second-year starter Jalil Anibaba at center back. The two have shown well together this season.
Dan Gargan and Gonzalo Segares make up the right and left full back positions, respectively. Both are veteran players that do well at getting forward when they need to.
Sean Johnson has been a consistent factor in goal since returning from injury and U-23 national team duty earlier this season. In seven games he has 16 saves.
Keys to three points
Both teams will be coming off short rest for this game – with FC Dallas having an extra day.
Due to the speed up front with Oduro, Nyarko, Pappa and Grazzini, the Fire play an open style of attack that relies on the speed and skill up front. Slowing that group down and playing physical with them typically keeps them at bay and puts more pressure on a back line that can be leaky at times.
FC Dallas will need to eliminate the open space that the Fire likes to use and possibly play a higher line in the back.
FC Dallas will also need to remain level-headed in this one as rivalry games tend to get more physical than normal games. With the tough run of suspensions and injuries that Schellas Hyndman has had to deal with, he will not want to see his club lose their cool in this one.
FC Dallas has had plenty of success recently against the Fire and will hope to bring home the Brimstone Cup once again.