Preview: Houston Dash vs. FC Kansas City

The Houston Dash return home this weekend for their second home match of the season following a two match road trip. They face an FC Kansas City team that was one of the best in the league last season but that has struggled early on this year.

Match Information

Date: Saturday, May 3, 2014

Time: 7pm

Location: BBVA Compass Stadium

TV: CSN Plus

Live Stream: YouTube

A year ago, FC Kansas City finished tied atop the standings with Western New York and Portland Thorns, but crashed out in the first round of the playoffs. They made a clean sweep of all of the postseason awards including the Golden Boot and MVP award for US Women’s National Team star, Lauren Holiday (formerly Lauren Cheney), Rookie of the Year for Erika Tymrak, Goalkeeper of the Year for Nicole Barnhart and Defender of the Year for Becky Sauerbrunn.

This season, however, FC Kansas City has struggled in the attack and on defense. Coming into this week, they had only taken one out of a possible nine points. They finally recorded their first win of the season on Wednesday this week; an unconvincing 1-0 home win over the Chicago Red Stars.

The Dash are coming off of a busy week on the transaction front, trading for Kaylyn Kyle and signing Austrian international Nina Burger. Kyle will start against FC Kansas City while Burger will watch as she is not yet eligible to play.

The Teams

FC Kansas City (1-2-1), 4 points, 4th place

Aug 24, 2013; Overland Park, KS, USA; FC Kansas City midfielder Jen Buczkowski (6) passes the ball during the first half of the match against the Portland Thorns at Shawnee Mission District Stadium. Portland won 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

FC Kansas City have generated plenty of scoring opportunities this season with their potent attack, but have struggled with hitting the back of the net. Amy Rodriguez has been in good form with 3 goals. However, last season’s NWSL scoring and assist leader, Lauren Holiday, has only managed a goal from the penalty spot despite having taken 17 shot of which 8 have been put on frame. No other FC Kansas City player has gotten on the score sheet thus far.

Defensively, FC Kansas City have struggled; in their first three matches they conceded 7 goals despite having quality players across the back four. Particularly devastating was conceding 2 goals in the final 7 minutes in a 3-1 loss last weekend at Portland.

FC Kansas City is yet another possession based attacking team. They will look to control possession and work the ball through the midfield up into the attack. Their fulbacks generally push far up the pitch to overlap in the attack, which leaves them exposed to quick counter-attacks.

Left back Kassey Kallman has looked particularly vulnerable to pace on counters this season. Last weekend at Portland, a lot of the Thorns attacks came down through that left side of the FC Kansas City defense.

What the Chicago Red Stars did particularly well on Wednesday night was bottling up the midfield. While FC Kansas City had plenty of possession, they struggled with turning that possession into opportunities. Chicago did an effective job of not letting the midfield connect with the forwards.

FC Kansas City will be working off of a short week. Lauren Holiday was taken off early against Chicago to preserve her for this weekend’s match, but the team may be feeling a bit of fatigue which could work in the favor of Houston’s high pressing and quick attacks.

Houston Dash (1-2-0), 3 points, tied for 6th place

Houston comes off a 2-0 loss at league leaders Seattle last weekend but will look a whole new team on Saturday night. The addition of Kaylyn Kyle to the midfield is a significant upgrade and allows Head Coach Randy Waldrum to get the team playing in the type of style he prefers.