FRISCO - FC Dallas is off for their first preseason friendly of 2018, leaving for Chattanooga after a brief training session Friday morning.

The club took 22 players on its inaugural road trip and as Oscar Pareja said earlier in the week, there are two main objectives with this group of players: get the starters time and see more of the bubble or reserve players in camp.

“[This weekend there are] a couple objectives. The first one is to start just competing with the team and getting some chemistry there, start doing some selection of the group that is going to compete on the 21st,” Pareja said Wednesday. “The second is to try to use the game or part of the game to analyze some the guys that are new or some others that are trying out here with the team. Both things are going to suit us well this weekend.”

Here’s my best guess on some looks we might see from FCD against Chattanooga FC:



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Some variations might include Ryan Hollingshead for either Anton Nedyalkov or Amer Sasivarevic at some point, maybe a split of time between Matt Hedges, Maynor Figueroa, Jordan Cano and even Kris Reaves at center back and possibly more.

The real key with the lineup on the left, mainly consisting of presumed starters would be the inclusion of Paxton Pomykal on the left wing. He will likely see more time in the middle this season, but it's always nice to know what you have in a player in a different role. If he plays well again, who knows what that could lead to. I imagine he will shift into the No. 10 role as Mauro Diaz subs out before a full shift to the midfield on the right (which Dallas played with during last Saturday's reserve scrimmage). It will also be our first real look at Nedyalkov and Reggie Cannon as your outside backs.

With the lineup on the right, I'm interested to see more of Sasivarevic on the left given a strong showing a week ago and also how Cano and Reaves perform in their second game action of the preseason. I could see Jimmy Maurer taking the full 90-minute match, but included Cortes as I think Dallas wants to see what Pollo has in a true game setting (something they haven't seen since he originally signed last season).

Guys like Reto Ziegler, Carlos Gruezo and Ema Twumasi are not making the trip this weekend, but with a few friendlies and reserve games coming up this week they’ll surely get their rotation of minutes.

You can catch Saturday’s preseason match against Chattanooga at 11AM CT right here on FCDallas.com, via a live stream from our friends in Tennessee. More details will follow Saturday morning

Traveling Roster to Tennessee