Six days on from conceding four goals at home to Chicago Fire, Colorado Rapids travel to Frisco in no shape to absorb more damage. That 2-4 defeat left Matt Wells’s side ninth in the Western Conference on 43 points, clinging to a playoff spot but facing the prospect of dropping out of it entirely by the end of matchday 34. FC Dallas, sitting second on 55 points and three clear of San Jose Earthquakes in third, can use a home win to put real distance between themselves and the chasing pack fighting for a first-round bye.
What’s at stake
FC Dallas currently hold second place in the Western Conference with 55 points, six behind leaders Vancouver Whitecaps. San Jose Earthquakes sit third on 52, and both St. Louis City and Houston Dynamo are level at 51, meaning the gap between Dallas and the fourth-place teams is just four points with one round remaining. The top seven clubs enter the postseason at the Round of 16, while positions one through seven also carry the bonus of a bye past the opening round depending on final seeding. For Dallas, the difference between second and fourth is tangible.
A Dallas win keeps them comfortably in the top three and strengthens their case for a favorable bracket draw. For Colorado, the picture is tighter. The Rapids sit ninth on 43 points, the same as eighth-place Portland Timbers. Seattle Sounders, also on 43, and Real Salt Lake on 42 are right behind them. All nine teams qualify in the Western Conference, so Colorado’s playoff place is not under immediate threat, but a loss here combined with results elsewhere could still knock them down the bracket and into tougher first-round opposition.
How they got here
Dallas’s last five in MLS read: win against Seattle Sounders, draw at Houston, win over San Jose Earthquakes, loss to Columbus Crew at home, draw at Sporting Kansas City. That 1-1 result in Kansas City last weekend was the kind of dropped point that stings when rivals are breathing close. Eric Quill’s side has the attacking numbers to hurt most opponents, with P. Musa second in the MLS scoring chart on 22 goals, one of the most productive individual seasons in the league this year.
Colorado’s last five tell a bumpier story: a 2-2 draw at home to Minnesota United, a goalless draw at Portland, a 1-0 home win over Vancouver Whitecaps, a 2-2 draw at San Jose, and then that heavy home loss to Chicago. Three draws and a loss in four games before this trip to Texas does not project the kind of momentum needed to pick up points on the road against a top-two side.
Key battle to watch
Colorado’s defensive shape will be tested repeatedly by P. Musa, who has 22 league goals this season and has shown the ability to hurt teams both in behind and on the half-turn inside the box. The Rapids conceded four at home to Chicago, and their center-back pairing of R. Holding and M. Navarro will need a far cleaner evening than what Wells’s backline produced last Saturday. If Dallas can get Musa operating in central areas early, the pressure on a Colorado defense that has shipped 47 goals in 33 games could make for a long night for the visitors.
Key Stats
Match Context
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Standings
Head To Head
Our Prediction
History slightly favors Colorado in this matchup, with five wins in the last ten meetings, but that record means less when the Rapids arrive carrying a four-goal hiding from earlier in the week. Dallas have the sharper individual quality up front and the home advantage at Toyota Stadium. Expect Eric Quill’s side to control enough of the match to take three points, though Colorado’s compact defensive tendencies in recent draws suggest it may not be a wide-margin result.