When FC Dallas comes to The Home Depot Center on Saturday night to face the Los Angeles Galaxy, they will be sporting the lead in the Western Conference, a tie for the league's best overall record, and a fearsome attack to go with the stingiest defense in MLS at this early stage.
For the home-standing Galaxy, they will be chaser rather than the chased, as a victory will merely pull them into a tie atop the conference, while a loss would drop them six points the new-look Dallas team. But the Galaxy are just fine with that.
"We've been on top for so long it's kind of nice not to have the targets on our backs," said Galaxy captain Pete Vagenas.
Two former Galaxy players have made the biggest difference for Dallas this year. Carlos Ruiz went to FCD just prior to the start of the season, and has taken a lot of pressure off of an emerging Eddie Johnson.
Greg Vanney also joined FCD after several seasons abroad in France. His veteran leadership has helped to shore up what was a shaky Dallas defense last year.
Those additions, along with a few others, have been a complete turnaround for the club that has failed to reach the MLS Cup Playoffs each of the last two years, and the Galaxy know they have their hands full.
"We've battled many times with those guys," said Vagenas. "We've usually had the upper hand against Dallas but they've retooled their lineup."
A year ago, the Galaxy won three of the four meetings between the teams, and outscored the Texas club 9-2.
Despite the fact that the Galaxy have won two in a row this season heading into this weekend's top-of-the-table clash, they aren't satisfied with the way they've played. In fact, the mood in the locker room was that of disappointment after a 3-1 drubbing of Chivas USA. After taking a three-goal lead into the locker room at halftime, L.A. came out flat in the second half.
Any letdown in this weekend's game, and Tyrone Marshall and the rest of the Galaxy defense know they will be in trouble.
"Carlos Ruiz, Eddie Johnson, Ronnie O'Brien -- we can't afford to let up in the second half because those guys will take advantage," said Marshall.
It's expected to be another sellout crowd at The Home Depot Center for Ruiz's first match against his former club. But since he's left the Galaxy, four different players have contributed with six goals this season, and Steve Sampson's team could be well-armed itself for a Wild West shootout on Saturday.
Greg Daurio is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
