Racing vs. Dash Preview and Thoughts
Phew! The dreaded (by me at least) International Break is almost over and the focus can turn back to club soccer. I tried to fill the gap with some decent content, but I am happy to fill the next week or so with match previews, recaps and analysis.
The Houston Dash are an interesting proposition. As Jen Cooper noted in our discussion yesterday, when they are playing well they are a tough team to beat. Houston has several players who regularly play for their national teams. Allysha Chapman, Nichelle Prince and Sophie Schmidt all play for Canada, but none of them were overworked on the break. Kristie Mewis saw only 61 minutes for the USWNT. Jane Campbell only made the bench, so there is much relatively well rested talent on this team. However, even though Rachel Daly's England didn't have any matches over this break, she is already with the England team in preparation for the Olympics.
Looking at the player ratings from Fotmob, Sophie Schmidt has graded out at a 7.79 rating this season so far, and as Jen Cooper stated has been bossing the midfield. According to Fotmob the next two highest rated players are Kristie Mewis and Michelle Prince, so no surprises there. The absent Rachel Daly leads the team with 2 goals, and Kristie Mewis leads the team with 2 assists. The Dash also lead the league in big chances created with 12. On paper this is a very impressive team.
On the flip side, the team only has 7 points from 5 matches. That isn't a terrible return, but I believe there are definite issues that Racing can exploit. While Houston leads the league is big chances created, they also lead the league in big chances missed. That's not exactly clinical finishing. The Dash are pretty mediocre when it come to shots on target at 4.6/match which is only good for 6th in the league. They do concede about a goal/ match as well, but only average 2.6 saves/match, so their opponents haven't exactly been peppering Campbell's goal with shots. The team is also in the middle of the pack in the possession (49.6%) and passing stats.
One thing that jumped out at me was that twice already this year the Dash have conceded a goal when the other team was down a player. It cost them 3 points in total, 1 in turning a draw vs. Washington into a loss and 2 in turning a win vs. KC into a draw. Great teams almost never do this. I would argue that even good ones don't. What this says to me is that Houston may be prone to lapses in concentration from time to time. In summary, I think Houston is a mid-table team that has been playing below their ability.
On the Racing side, I believe they have the ability to catch Houston off guard with unfamiliar players taking the field or in new roles. I will be watching to see if Gemma Bonner gets the start. She hasn't played completely since November 2020. Barring injury, centerbacks almost always play the full 90 minutes, so I don't read too much into her not coming on as a sub vs. Portland. I think she could get the start despite not playing in a while, but we'll see.
I definitely think we will see Ebony Salmon, and I think she'll start. I am super excited to see what she can do. I expect Matthews to make the bench again and play some as well. I also think you could see Kizer and McCaskill take up slightly different positions.
Ever the optimist, I am predicting a 2-1 home victory for Racing as a great Father's Day gift for me.
M
