It is actually pretty simple for FC Dallas going into Decision Sunday.
FC Dallas knows Sunday’s season finale against Sporting Kansas City is more than just a playoff tuneup, it is all about locking up a home playoff game.
Following their dismal effort in Colorado last weekend, FC Dallas was handed a bit of luck with the clubs chasing them in the standings not picking up enough points to pass them last weekend. Nashville surprisingly lost to Houston, creating a pretty nice Decision Sunday scenario for Nico Estevez’s club.
How to lock up the #3 spot in the West
It is simple, win or draw, and FC Dallas will play at home at least once in the playoffs. No one behind them in the standings at the moment can catch them at 51 points. So, thankfully, the math is relatively simple.
Also, third is as high as FC Dallas can reach this season. Austin FC has locked up the second spot in the Western Conference with 55 points.
How far could FC Dallas fall with a loss?
A loss on Sunday to Sporting KC wouldn’t be a great way to finish the season with two losses and a draw in the final three games against teams that failed to reach the playoffs.
The LA Galaxy sit three points back of FCD and would move above them with a win over the Houston Dynamo and an FCD loss based on the first tiebreak of a greater number of wins. A Nashville victory against LAFC on Sunday and an FCD loss would also see Nashville step over Dallas.
But say the result happens, and the LA Galaxy and Nashville SC both win their games on Sunday, and FCD loses theirs, it would find FCD in fifth place when it is all said and done, thus putting them on the road to open up the playoffs, likely in Nashville, a place that they got blown out in back in August.