Saturday, Aug. 23 | 5:30 p.m. PT
🏟 | Toyota Stadium - Frisco, TX
📻 | 710 AM ESPN, ESPN LA App, and KFWB 980 AM La Mera Mera
🗓 | Calendar sync
LAFC wraps up a stretch of three straight road matches with a Saturday night visit to suburban Dallas to take on FC Dallas at Toyota Stadium. The past two weekends the Black & Gold has earned four points from its two away matches in Chicago and New England (drawing with the Fire and defeating the Revs), lifting the club to fifth place in the Western Conference with a record of 11W-6L-7D (40 points)—just one point behind fourth-place Seattle.
With the top four clubs in each conference earning home field advantage in their respective Round One Best-of-3 series in the MLS Cup Playoffs, the final ten games of LAFC’s regular season will go a long way toward deciding its postseason fate.
LAFC holds at least two games in hand on each of the four teams above it in the conference standings. No MLS team has played fewer league games than LAFC in 2025 due to the Black & Gold’s participation in the FIFA Club World Cup and other international competitions.
FC Dallas enters the match in 11th place in West (7W-11L-8D, 29 points) following a 1-1 draw with Austin last weekend. The weather forecast for north Texas predicts temperatures in the upper 90s.
THE OPPONENT
Nine Western Conference teams will advance into the MLS postseason; right now Dallas stands just three points out of that ninth spot. Turning around its home form would help manager Eric Quill’s side climb toward the playoff line. Toyota Stadium, usually a home fortress for FCD, has hosted just three wins for the club out of 13 home games so far this year (3W-8L-2D).
Defender Shaq Moore scored Dallas’ only goal in last Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Austin—his third of the year. Forward Petar Musa assisted on Moore’s goal and leads the team with 19 total goal contributions (13 goals, 6 assists).
Goalkeeper Maarten Paes, a 2024 MLS All-Star, has been dealing with a hamstring injury and has not appeared in Dallas’ last two matches. Twenty-four-year-old homegrown Michael Collodi has filled in, allowing just one goal over those 180 minutes.
SON-SATIONAL
In his first two appearances for LAFC, new arrival Son Heung-Min has contributed 119 minutes, one start, one assist, one penalty earned, several dangerous attacking runs, and immeasurable leadership and positive energy.
“What a guy,” defender Nkosi Tafari said after training on Thursday. “[Son] is great fun to be around. I feel like I've known him for a couple of years now. He's very friendly, very outgoing, he's really good with pushing a lot of the guys. He's got a great mentality, and he fits right in with the bunch, seamlessly.”
“He has brought a sense of extra motivation,” said head coach Steve Cherundolo, “and kind of a little bit of wind in our sails and a little bit of confidence. You bring in such a high quality player as Sonny is— the team needed that, and I think the team is using that and I think you can see the team playing with a little more confidence. Now it's a matter of maintaining that momentum moving forward in the next couple of weeks to finish in a strong fashion.”
THE SERIES
LAFC owns a 7W-4L-2D record against Dallas in regular-season play but has not won on the road in the series since a 3-2 victory on Oct. 20, 2021 – when current LAFC defender Ryan Hollingshead scored his final goal in an FC Dallas shirt before joining the Black & Gold ahead of its 2022 MLS Cup title season.
“It's always fun to go back there and see old friends, a place that I know very well, spending eight years there,” Hollingshead said Thursday. “It's always a battle there. The heat’s crazy. The humidity’s crazy.”
Since coming to LAFC Hollingshead has scored 13 regular-season goals, bringing his career total to 31 and placing him in a second-place tie with Graham Zusi for the most goals scored by an MLS player whose primary position is defender. (Brek Shea ranks first with 35 goals.)
PART OF OUR HISTORY
Dallas defender Sebastian Ibeagha, who leads FCD in starts (24) and minutes played (2,200) this season, played all 120 minutes for LAFC in the Black & Gold’s epic victory in the 2022 MLS Cup Final. Hollingshead played alongside Ibeagha for that entire match, as did three-time MLS All-Star Denis Bouanga.
DENIS DROPS DALLAS
Bouanga, who has scored 89 goals for LAFC in all competitions since joining the club three years ago this month, is just four goals away from tying former LAFC captain and club legend Carlos Vela as the club’s all-time leading scorer in all competitions (93 goals).
Three of Bouanga’s 89 goals have come against FC Dallas, including a 45th-minute penalty kick in LAFC’s 2-0 win at BMO Stadium last month.
LAFC CAN WIN IF
Son’s playmaking chemistry with his teammates continues to ripen. The South Korean star’s selfless assist to fellow newcomer Mathieu Choiniére on the last play of the New England win typified his team-first approach. Coincidentally, it also connected two players whose national teams have qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2026, which kicks off in Los Angeles next June. Son captains South Korea while Choiniére has earned17 caps with Canada, including three starts in this summer’s Concacaf Gold Cup.
FC DALLAS CAN WIN IF
The Texas heat puts on a blue and red shirt. Each summer FC Dallas acquires a twelfth man—its muggy weather—that directly impacts games. The expected humidity on Saturday could make on-field temperatures feel like 100 degrees. “Luckily, it's been really hot here for the week,” Hollingshead said of LA. “That actually is helpful, being able to train in the heat. Your body adjusts to it and gets used to it … It's gonna be a battle for sure.”
