Two struggling sides meet this weekend at Toyota Stadium as Dallas host St Louis City in a MLS Western Conference matchup.

The hosts and the visitors sit 13th and 14th, respectively, having both played 22 matches, though the home side are four points ahead.

Match preview

Dallas were forced to settle for a 2-2 draw against San Jose last time out, with Petar Musa scoring both goals for the Bulls.

That performance showed flashes of promise in attack, but the defensive problems continued, and the Bulls have now failed to win in five straight matches, losing four of them, and conceding 15 goals during that run.

Dallas have shipped 41 goals in 22 matches so far – only one team in the West has let in more, while their last clean sheet came against Philadelphia Union on June 1, and since then, they have been consistently exposed at the back. 

The home form has also been woeful, winless in their last seven MLS games at Toyota Stadium, losing five, including the last three in a row, along with two draws. 

Interestingly, Dallas have beaten the visitors 2-0 in both previous MLS meetings at this ground, and they will be hoping to stretch that streak.

However, St. Louis won the most recent meeting between the sides 2-1 in last year’s Leagues Cup and will hope they can finally pick up something from their trip to Dallas.

The visitors head into this clash on a high after a hard-fought 2-1 win over Portland Timbers, ending a five-game winless run and having interim coach David Critchley just his second victory since taking charge. 

However, St. Louis remain awful travellers, having lost their last six away league games and have collected just five points on the road from their total of 18 this season.

The visitors have lost their last seven away matches across all competitions, conceding 17 goals in that period and scoring just six themselves.

Dallas MLS Playoffs form:

Dallas form (all competitions):

St Louis City MLS Playoffs form:

St Louis City form (all competitions):

Team News

Dallas have a few absentees, with Anderson Julio, Nolan Norris and Paxton Pomykal missing through injury.

Musa’s brace took his MLS tally to nine goals, and he will be the man to watch for the Bulls when he leads the line again.

St. Louis have more to deal with on the injury front, Joakim Nilsson, Chris Durkin and Timo Baumgartl unavailable due to knee issues.

Henry Kessler sat out because of a hamstring strain, while Alfredo Morales is out with an abdominal injury.

Dallas possible starting lineup:

Paes; Abubakar, Ibeagha, Farfan; Moore, Ferreira, Ramiro, Torquato;  Kamungo, Musa, Delgado

St Louis City possible starting lineup:

Burki; Totland, Girdwood-Reich, Yaro Orozco; Ostrak, Wallem; Teuchert, Hartel, Pompeu; Klauss

We say: Dallas 1-1 St Louis City

Both sides are out of form in key areas, with Dallas suffering a poor streak at home and St. Louis on the road, making it difficult to back either team for a win, so a low-scoring draw looks like the most likely outcome.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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