Saturday night in Texas, the Vancouver Whitecaps and FC Dallas will battle in the second match of a best-of-three series for a spot in the second round. While the Whitecaps are undoubtedly full of confidence after the opener, FC Dallas will be looking for answers after failing to register a shot in a 3–0 loss at BC Place this past Sunday.

I think everyone knew going into the series that Vancouver was the better team, but there were a couple of arguments that could be made if you thought Dallas had a chance of pulling off an upset.

The first was that Vancouver’s depleted backline would crumble under the pressure of the playoffs. So far, that has certainly not been the case. Both Ralph Priso and Belal Halbouni were excellent in match one against Dallas, and with Mathias Laborda back from suspension and MLS Defender of the Year Tristan Blackmon close to a comeback, Jesper Sørensen will have a wider set of options this upcoming weekend.

The second argument that could be made was that Dallas’s direct and physical style could lead the Whitecaps into a trap match. Dallas can be dangerous on the counterattack, and they have the...