Frisco, Texas.- The Rapids travel to face off against FC Dallas on MLS Decision Day. It’s arguably a must-win scenario for the away side as they sit on 43 points in ninth place. If Colorado can win, they clinch an MLS playoff spot, lose or draw and it’s up to the five other teams’s results in playoff contention.
FC Dallas sit in second place in the West in comfortable position. Dallas come off a 1-1 tie with Sporting Kansas City, while Colorado enters the match off a sour home defeat to Chicago 4-2.
To get a better idea of the matchup, Burgundy Wave spoke with Drew Epperley of Big D Soccer.
With last year’s position for FC Dallas, and now in second, what’s been behind the success and ability to be a top Western Conference team?
Drew Epperley: A big part of the success this team is enjoying as of late comes down to a few factors in my mind. The biggest may actually be chemistry in the locker room. Manager Eric Quill consistently brings this up after training or in a post game press conference, but he has a group that is totally bought in on what he’s trying to build here in Dallas. Even after disappointing results, you don’t see a group segmented in the locker room in any form, they’re all collectively on the same page.
Along with that, there wasn’t a ton of turnover from last year’s team that made the playoffs as a 7th seed and this year’s bunch. The club did go out and add a couple of pieces before the start of the 2026 season in guys like Santiago Moreno, Herman Johansson and Joaquin Valiente, while adding a midseason addition in the form of Daniel Job. Having a consistent group has helped build that chemistry up, too.
Lastly, they have a Designated Player in Petar Musa who has been every bit worth the money Dallas paid to get him from Benfica a couple of seasons ago. When you hit on your top-end talent like that, good things tend to happen in this league.
Eric Quill spent time coaching for North Texas before becoming FC Dallas’s head coach, what play style and development has he brought since becoming coach last year?
DE: When Quill came back to Dallas from the USL Championship with New Mexico, he originally wanted to bring in a high-press 4-2-3-1 type of formation. The only thing was, he didn’t really have the right players to run that style of play out of the gate. So, he adapted and then adapted again, and…you can guess it, adapted it again.
He’s got a team that is more comfortable absorbing pressure, being dangerous on the counter attack, and fairly lethal in front of the goal (56 goals scored this season, which is also a club record for a single season). Lately, his group has also gotten better about pressing up the field and causing issues for teams who want to build out of the back and possess the ball.
He joked recently that they’ve been working on their press a lot this season, but when you play in the Texas summers you tend to not see it as much. Now that we’re in cooler weather, we’re seeing it more.
Where will the danger come from for Dallas, who should Rapids fans be on the lookout for?
DE: I touched on it a bit above but the danger will come on the counter-attack. Dallas does a great job of earning turnovers and immediately putting teams on their back heels.
Guys like Job, Moreno, Bernard Kamungo and Sam Sarver bring a lot of speed to the attack, which then opens the door for Musa to do his thing inside the penalty area.
What are some of the major storylines, Dallas playing for second place and Colorado in the thick of a playoff race, how do you see Dallas preparing and approaching the game?
DE: You touched it right there, Dallas is playing for second place here. For most Dallas fans, that is a massive achievement, too. There weren’t many pundits out there at the beginning of the season who had Dallas anywhere remotely close to finishing in second place.
The last couple of games haven’t exactly gone Dallas’ way either. Their 2-0 loss last week at home to Columbus was a bit of a sting, while dropping points last weekend in Kansas City when Musa missed a penalty kick in stoppage-time also left a bad taste in our mouths going into the Decision Day.
I would look for Dallas to use this game to build momentum going into the playoffs, where they’ll potentially host not just the Round One series (possibly against the Rapids if results fall that way), but also another round or two if they continue to advance.
Dallas got the best of Colorado in the reverse fixture with a tight 2-1 scoreline. Do you see it being a close game, what do you expect on MLS Decision Day?
DE: I would imagine we’ll see a tight game on Saturday, with the Rapids looking to ‘go for it’ a bit more than Dallas.
That could open the game up a bit if Colorado is pressing for an early advantage and Dallas is able to get a goal on a counter-attack.
Finally, score prediction?
DE: I do think Dallas gets a good response in this one on Decision Day, but the Rapids will make it interesting. I’m going with another 2-1 win for the hosts.
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Matt Pollard 