Colorado Rapids goalkeeper Zack Steffen has called on his team-mates to make good on the side's excellent 2024 to date and finish the season strongly, starting with Saturday's trip to FC Dallas.

Colorado sit fourth in the Western Conference standings as they resume MLS action after finishing third in the Leagues Cup, beating the Philadelphia Union in the bronze-medal match.

Chris Armas has the Rapids eyeing home advantage in the playoffs in his first year at the helm, and Steffen says it is all about mental strength as they enter the run-in.

"It's been a long month with a lot of games and travel and everything. It's been good to come home and have a full week to look ahead to Dallas," Steffen said.

"It's back to MLS for us now, so we're fully focused on Dallas and making sure we pick up three points on Saturday. 

"We're getting better every day, it's been fun. We have a great group of guys who are hungry to compete and to grow. It's been a great start but now it's about finishing strong."

Dallas, meanwhile, are down in 10th, albeit just one point of Austin FC, who occupy the final play-in spot in the West.

Interim coach Peter Luccin oversaw a thrilling 4-3 victory at D.C. United last time out – Dallas' third win in four regular-season games, and he thinks it could be a major turning point.

"For us to win on the road, it wasn't easy," said Luccin. "We knew that they were going to fight until the end, they fought hard. 

"We need to stay focused. We need to have the same energy. We need to keep playing the football that we have been playing."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

FC Dallas – Sebastian Lletget 

Lletget had a goal and two assists in FC Dallas' win at D.C. United last Saturday, his second career match with three goal contributions in MLS, having also achieved the feat in September 2019 versus Sporting Kansas City.

Colorado Rapids – Rafael Navarro 

Navarro (11) and Djordje Mihailovic (10) are the second pair of Rapids team-mates to each score 10 goals in a single regular season since 2010, after Kei Kamara and Diego Rubio in 2019).

MATCH PREDICTION – DRAW 

Colorado have won five of their seven meetings with Dallas since the start of 2021 (one draw, one defeat), including a 2-1 home win when the sides last faced off on April 20. 

The Rapids had won just five of their previous 24 meetings with Dallas from July 2012 through 2020 (eight draws, 11 defeats).

It appears difficult to split the teams for this one, with Dallas winning three of their last four regular-season matches (one draw), but not inspiring much hope in defence, conceding five times in their last three matches.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

FC Dallas – 39.1%

Colorado Rapids – 34.3%

Draw – 26.6%

FC Dallas must learn to manage matches with more composure, so says interim coach Peter Luccin.

Dallas bounced back from a 3-2 defeat to Sporting Kansas City by claiming a surprise 2-0 win over the high-flying Los Angeles Galaxy last time out.

Having seen his team lose late on against Kansas City, Luccin was delighted with Dallas' response against the Galaxy, with Petar Musa and Logan Farrington on target.

Dallas accumulated 1.38 expected goals (xG) and had 18 shots to the Galaxy's nine, though Luccin did point out to one area where his side can improve.

"I'm still hurt a bit about our last game versus Kansas City to be honest," he said.

"Coming off a loss against Kansas City, we saw that it could be different. It says a lot about this team. I told you from the very first day, I'm very proud of them, with all of the adversity we face right now like injuries. 

"I will say that maybe having more of the ball in those important moments. I think we did that in the last 10 minutes, in the first half we were rushing too much.

"We should've pushed up higher and sustained a little bit more of the ball. Even if we want to go more vertical, we need to understand the timing and moments to go vertical.

"For me, how to manage the game with the ball. We knew the Galaxy were very good with the ball but in the end, we controlled well. We were compact in the low block. We need to manage the ball better and have possession for longer."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

FC Dallas - Jesus Ferreira

Ferreira has scored in each of his last three home MLS appearances, including in the 2-0 win over the Galaxy on Saturday.

Only one Dallas player has scored in four straight home matches since the start of the 2020 season – Ricardo Pepi in June-July 2021.

Austin FC - Julio Cascante

Cascante won eight of nine aerial duels in Austin's loss to the Seattle Sounders on Saturday, the third time he has won at least eight aerial duels in an MLS match since joining Austin FC in 2021.

The only other player to win eight or more aerial duels in a match for Austin FC is Leo Vaisanen (twice).

MATCH PREDICTION: DALLAS WIN

Austin have managed just two wins in their last 18 regular-season road matches dating back to last July, but one of those wins came in a Texas Derby, a 1-0 victory against the Houston Dynamo on April 20.

Dallas recorded their eighth home win in all competitions this season, and fourth in five matches, with the win over the Galaxy. A league-high 88% (23/26) of Dallas' points this season have been earned at home.

Dallas are unbeaten in five home matches against Austin (W4 D1), including a 2-1 victory at Toyota Stadium on May 11. Three of Dallas' four home wins over Austin have been by one-goal margins.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

FC Dallas - 51.8%

Austin FC - 23.6%

Draw - 24.6%

Peter Luccin was thrilled with FC Dallas' comeback against the Portland Timbers, but still sees plenty of ways they can improve.

Dallas came out on top from a topsy-turvy match in midweek, winning 3-2.

It saw Dallas bounce back from successive defeats, and they sit 11th in the Western Conference ahead of Sunday's clash with Sporting Kansas City, who are six points behind in 13th.

Asked what he liked about his team's performance against the Timbers, Dallas interim boss Luccin said: "Resilience, resilience from the team. That was huge.

"After the first half, we were very passive with nothing offensively. The only thing about the first half that I liked was the compactness of the team. We were compact, but no one making runs, no one even putting more pressure on the ball or playing with the ball. 

"The half-time talk, maybe it's better for me to not say anything. It was a hard talk, but at the same time, we told them to believe.

"We felt that we could score in the second half. The second half we showed character.

"We are in a very hard situation right now in the club and with the team, with so many injuries to very important players."

Petar Musa got on the scoresheet for Dallas to move into double-figures for the season.

"I am happy with my goals but for me, it's not about just the goals," said the striker. 

"We want to win every single game and I want to help the team. I'm more focused on winning every game. So if I score I'm happy, but it's more important that we won."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Sporting Kansas City - Daniel Salloi

Salloi has scored eight goals in 15 career regular-season matches against Dallas, three more than he has scored against any other opponent. Salloi has six goals in his last six matches against Dallas.

FC Dallas - Petar Musa

Musa has scored five goals in his last three matches, taking his total to 10 in his first 20 MLS games for Dallas. The last player to reach 10 goals faster for Dallas was Carlos Ruiz in 2005 (16 games).

MATCH PREDICTION: SKC WIN

Dallas are winless on the road in the 2024 regular season (D3 L7) with its three road points being the fewest in MLS this season. It is the second time the club has been winless through at least 10 away matches of a season as they failed to win any of their first 11 on the road in 2000.

SKC beat Austin FC 2-0 in their last home game. The win ended a streak of 14 straight home regular-season games of SKC conceding, the second-longest such streak in team history (22 straight from June 2002 to October 2003).

The home side has won each of the last four meetings between Kansas City and Dallas in all competitions. There have been at least three goals scored in each of the last six meetings with both teams scoring in all six.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

SKC - 41.3%

Dallas - 32%

Draw - 26.7%

FC Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan insists his side cannot feel sorry for themselves as they look to keep pace at the top of the Eastern Conference table.  

The Orange and Blues were beaten 2-1 by New England Revolution last time out, not helped by the sending off Obinna Nwobodo three minutes after Yamil Asad had halved the deficit for the home side.

Cincinnati travel to FC Dallas this Sunday, and Noonan expects his players to give their supporters a much-improved display to ensure they remain within touching distance of league leaders Inter Miami.

"We didn't give (the fans) much to cheer about in the first 45 (minutes)," Noonan said. "But it starts with me. I don't think that was a version of our group that we should have seen tonight, so I can't blame those guys for anything.

“I don't think in the first half we were able to take the space in an efficient way to then open up different ways of breaking pressure because it was too predictable.

"But we can't feel sorry for ourselves, we have to keep going."

Meanwhile, Dallas suffered their first defeat in three matches at the hands the Seattle Sounders at Lumen Field last time out.

Peter Luccin’s side had taken a two-goal lead heading into the final 20 minutes of the game, but a late turnaround from the home side saw them score three times in the final 12 minutes of the game to secure the triumph on a disappointing night for the Toros.

The result leaves them in 11th place in the Western Conference heading into the encounter, but they will be hopeful of kickstarting another unbeaten run to close the gap to the play-off places.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Dallas – Luciano Acosta

Acosta’s influence in the Dallas side as his assist took his tally to 15 for the season, the third time he has reach this number in the MLS (17 in 2018, 19 in 2022).

The Argentine became just the fifth player in MLS history to have three or more seasons with at least 15 assists, and he shows no sign of stopping.

Cincinnati – Peter Musa

The Croatian scored his ninth goal of the season for FC Dallas last Saturday and is on the cusp of achieving a record that has stood since 2017.

Should he find the back of the net against Dallas, Musa will become the first FC Dallas player to represent a country other than the United States with a 10-goal season since Maximiliano Urruti (Argentina) and Roland Lamah (Belgium).

MATCH PREDICTION: CINCINNATI WIN

This will be just the second meeting between the two sides, with Cincinnati out to avenge their defeat to Dallas in their first encounter back in August 2019.

Noonan’s side have won five straight away matches for the first time in club history. There have only been two longer road winning streaks in MLS in the post-shootout era (since 2000): CF Montreal (7 straight) in 2022 and San Jose (6 straight) in 2005.

However, the Toros are unbeaten in their last seven home matches (W5 D2) in all competitions, including winning their last two in a row. They have suffered just two defeats in their last 21 home matches in all competitions dating back to the beginning of last year’s Leagues Cup (W10 D9).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Dallas – 32%

Draw – 25.4%

Cincinnati – 42.6%

FC Dallas interim head coach Peter Luccin will continue to give his players freedom as they welcome Minnesota United to the Toyota Stadium on Thursday.

The Frenchman earned a victory in his first game in charge of the Toros over St. Louis City last Sunday, ending a run of five games without a win.  

Dallas occupy 12th in the Western Conference table and will be looking to win consecutive matches within a single league season in over a year on home turf.

Luccin was pleased with his new side returning to winning ways, and insists that allowing his players freedom on the pitch is equally as important as the tactics he implements.

"In the end, I think that is the only way," Luccin said. “I think you saw that the best way is to give them the freedom to play.

"We are talking so much about tactics, and tactics are very important, but the freedom, I will say sometimes, with the ball, is even more important.

"We have some players who are very creative. I am not going to tell them how to pass a ball, but the only thing I can help them with is to read moments and what phase we are in."

Meanwhile, Minnesota suffered just their fourth defeat of the season in a 2-0 defeat away to Seattle Sounders, leaving them in fourth place and two points behind LA Galaxy with a game in hand.

The Loons travel to Dallas unbeaten in their last five visits to North Texas, winning twice and drawing three times and will be looking to continue that run this time around.

But an uncharacteristic part of their most recent defeat was their failure to find the back of the net. It was just the fifth time in Minnesota's last 40 league matches that they did not score.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

FC Dallas – Petar Musa

The Croatian is Dallas' top scorer this season with five goals, but has failed to find the back of the net since their draw with Houston in May. However, he will be hopeful of returning to the scoresheet in front of his home supporters.

Minnesota United – Robin Lod

Lod has continued to impress for Minnesota, not only in the wide positions but centrally too. The 31-year-old has five goals and eight assists this season for Ramsay's side.

MATCH PREDICTION: DALLAS WIN

Having gone five games without a win, Dallas halted their winless run with a victory over St. Louis last time out but have failed to win consecutive matches in a single season in over a year against Austin and Vancouver, but are well-placed to buck that trend.

Nkosi Tafari's headed goal against St. Louis was the sixth time Dallas have scored from a corner this season, tied for the second most in the MLS and two behind San Jose Earthquakes.

But Minnesota will be confident of returning to winning ways against their opponents, having lost one of their last 11 games against Dallas. The Loons are also unbeaten in their last five visits to Dallas (W2 D3), the club’s longest road unbeaten run against a team in the MLS.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Dallas – 41%

Draw – 26.7%

Minnesota – 32.3%

FC Dallas interim head coach Peter Luccin has urged his players to show their passion on the pitch when they welcome St. Louis City to the Toyota Stadium.

Dallas announced they had parted company with Nico Estevez on June 9 after a run of five matches without a win left them second from bottom in the Western Conference.

Peter Luccin was brought in as his interim replacement, with the Frenchman aiming to make a positive mark in his first game in charge.

"I think it's very important to understand that not everything was bad in the past. I think that we build some foundation," Luccin said.

"I can see the passion in their eyes. They see passion in my eyes, too. So, the passion for that game is a key factor, too. This is what I saw. This is what they see from me.

“To be honest, I will say that maybe it's not the best team to start to play against in my first game, but I'm looking forward to playing against St. Louis because I know that is going to be very demanding."

St. Louis City are just four points above Dallas in 11th after their own five-match winless run.

Head coach Bradley Carnell admitted it was not easy to plan for this game due to the unexpectedness a new opposing manager can create.

"It's a new manager with new tactics, so we don't know what to expect, but we've played some really good games against strong opponents and outshot those opponents," said Carnell.

"We have a process, we have a style, but we need to match the intensity they're going to come at us with. They have something to prove, but so do we."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

FC Dallas – Liam Fraser

After an MLS career that spanned three teams over six seasons, Fraser scored his first goal in his 77th regular-season appearance in Dallas' draw with Minnesota on Saturday.

Only one player this season, Portland's Eric Miller (186 games), scored his first career MLS goal after more regular-season games.

St. Louis City – Chris Durkin

St. Louis City won possession in the attacking third five times in their draw with Portland on Saturday, with Durkin responsible for two of those, the joint-most in the team.

St. Louis have now won possession in the attacking third 102 times this season, 11 more than any other MLS team.

MATCH PREDICTION: FC DALLAS WIN

Dallas and St. Louis split the first three meetings, with each team winning once and drawing once. A total of five goals have been scored over the three games with all of them coming in the 80th minute or later.

Dallas have lost only two of their last 19 home matches in all competitions (W8 D9) dating back to the beginning of the Leagues Cup last July. Those two losses came against Canadian sides (Montreal, Vancouver Whitecaps) as the last U.S.-based team to win in Dallas was D.C. United last July.

St. Louis earned a league-high ninth draw of the season in a scoreless match against Portland on Saturday. They have only four defeats all season, with only seven teams losing fewer matches than City since the club joined MLS last season.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

FC Dallas – 47.6%

Draw – 26.1%

St. Louis City – 26.3%