FC Dallas v St. Louis City SC: Quill confident of making late playoff charge

Eric Quill believes FC Dallas have the mentality that it takes to reach the playoffs as they look to get back to winning ways against St. Louis City SC.

Dallas have failed to win any of their last five matches and failed to hold out for a win against the San Jose Earthquakes, conceding an equalizer just seconds after it seemed they had netted a late winner.

They sit 13th in the Western Conference on 22 points, seven behind San Jose in ninth, but Quill is still confident Dallas can mount a late charge for the playoffs.

"They were animals," Quill said about their draw with San Jose. "Their mentality was off the charts; our team mentality was off the charts.

"That's who we have to be. And if that's who we become consistently, we're going to climb this table. I guarantee that.

"So that's what I told them after the game. If you can be this, you can be in the playoffs."

St. Louis, meanwhile, sit one place and four points below Dallas in the West.

They ended a five-game winless streak last time out, coming from behind to beat the Portland Timbers on Sunday, and, unlike Dallas, did not play in midweek.

Interim head coach David Critchley has described himself as an optimist, and when asked if he felt that attitude had rubbed off on his players, he said: "Yes, I do. We've had results that haven't gone our way, and I always say the mood is not that bad.

"They want to win, and they have a strong mindset, but the guys said that we're on this journey together, and there was optimism in the team. That's now overflowing into the performances, so I'm excited for them."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

FC Dallas – Petar Musa

With a brace against San Jose on Wednesday, Petar Musa has scored six goals in his last seven matches, bringing his career total to 25 regular-season goals.

Since the beginning of last season, Musa has 19 more goals than any other FC Dallas player (Logan Farrington – six).

St. Louis City SC – Marcel Hartel

Marcel Hartel finished with seven chances created and a brace, the first of his career, on Sunday.

Hartel joins Lionel Messi as the only other player to record five or more chances created and multiple goals in a single MLS match in 2025.

MATCH PREDICTION: FC DALLAS WIN

FC Dallas and St. Louis City SC have split their four regular-season meetings, with Dallas winning both of their home matches by a score of 2-0. Dallas have registered three consecutive home shutout wins while scoring multiple goals against one opponent (Philadelphia Union, 2016-2020).

However, Dallas are winless in its last seven home regular-season matches (D2 L4), including three straight losses. Dallas have suffered four straight home losses in a single regular season once (June-July 1998).

St. Louis, meanwhile, registered a season-high 20 shots in its win against Portland on Sunday, the team's first MLS match with at least 20 shots since September 2024 against the New England Revolution.

St. Louis have earned a result in 11 of their 13 all-time MLS matches (W7 D4) in which they have recorded 20 or more shots.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

FC Dallas – 49.6%

Draw – 25.4%

St. Louis City SC – 25%