FC Dallas v Sporting Kansas City: Luccin urges hosts to show fight in season finale

Peter Luccin wants FC Dallas to finish their season on a high when they play their final MLS match of 2024 against Sporting Kansas City on Saturday.

Dallas can only finish as high as 10th in the Western Conference but have won just one of their last seven MLS matches, losing the last two on the bounce.

Despite not reaching the playoffs, Luccin is already looking at the positives they can carry into next season, though he still expects his team to show their best form against Sporting KC.

“Our duty is to give all we’ve got,” he said. “The attitude of the team against Portland was positive and that’s the least we can do for the fans.

“At the same time, we need to think about next year. The attitude of the players has been great, but we didn’t lose games because of that. It came down to qualities or specific details, not mentality.

“It’s good, we are growing up as a team, so we need to see how they do against Kansas.”

Kansas City, meanwhile, are guaranteed to finish 13th no matter the result.

They are on a three-match losing streak in MLS and head coach Peter Vermes wants to make sure his team finish on a high after that poor run of form.

“Every week, no matter where you are in the season, you’re always working, thinking, preparing to make sure your team is ready for the challenge, and not just from the soccer perspective,” he said.

“You’re trying to get the mentality right. It’s much more challenging in a situation like this, but I think it will say a lot about the players that go on the field about how serious they take it.”

Prepping for the season finale.@Groople | #DTID pic.twitter.com/TY1ofJUPK9

— FC Dallas (@FCDallas) October 17, 2024

PLAYERS TO WATCH

FC Dallas – Petar Musa

Petar Musa has scored 15 goals this season, 10 more than any other Dallas player.

That is the second-largest gap between a team’s top goalscorer and second in MLS this season, behind only Christian Benteke, who has scored 17 more goals than any other D.C. United player in 2024.

Sporting Kansas City – Daniel Salloi

Daniel Salloi has scored eight regular-season goals against Dallas, three more than against any other opponent in his MLS career.

No player has scored more goals against Dallas since Salloi made his MLS debut in 2017.

MATCH PREDICTION: FC DALLAS WIN

Dallas have won only one of their last seven regular-season matches (D2 L4). They have conceded three goals in all four losses in that time but conceded just one in the other three matches.

Kansas City have won three straight meetings with FC Dallas in all competitions for the first time since 2017. Only once before has either team managed a four-match streak (Sporting KC in 2004), and Dallas will be keen to ensure they do not manage the same feat on Sunday.

Sporting KC, meanwhile, have just 31 points coming into the final match of the season, and will finish with fewer than 35 points for the first time since 2009 (33). Sporting hasverecorded fewer than 32 points only once before, totalling 20 points in the 1999 campaign.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

FC Dallas – 46.6%

Draw – 26.5%

Sporting Kansas City – 26.9%