Behind Enemy Lines: Scouting St. Louis CITY SC 🔎

The big push towards the MLS Cup Playoffs kicks into high gear this weekend for FC Dallas as they head north to Missouri to battle St. Louis CITY SC.

The two sides squared off a few weeks ago in Frisco, with FC Dallas coming out on top 3-0.

Let’s dive into St. Louis and how FC Dallas can get things started on the right foot this month.

Key Player: Joao Klauss

The Brazilian striker has been really one of the lone bright spots for City this season, with nine goals in 23 starts.

Key Matchup: Edwin Lowen vs Kaick

Lowen has had to deal with a lot of injuries this season, but he has been healthy as of late. This is the kind of matchup that I look forward to seeing for Kaick, though. A true test of how active he can be in the midfield at limiting chances from forming from the other side and keeping the defensive group from being put under too much pressure.

Availability Report1:

Suspended: none
Out: Cedric Teuchert (lower body)
Questionable: none
On Loan: none
International duty: Sang Bin Jeong (South Korea), Mykhi Joyner (US U20s) 

Quick Notes:

All time vs Dallas in St. Louis: FC Dallas has yet to pick up a win in St. Louis, as St. Louis currently holds a 1-0-1 record in all time regular season matches. St. Louis also defeated FC Dallas at home in last year's Leagues Cup group stage.

Recent form: St. Louis began August with a big win over Nashville, only to follow that result up with three straight losses. They are 2-8-0 in their last ten matches, dating back to late June loss at home to Orlando City.

Where they're at in the standings: St. Louis sits in 14th place, where they've been most of the season. At 21 points, they need to win out in their remaining six games, and have a lot of other things bounce their way to reach the playoffs.

Comparing the two clubs: Defensively, FC Dallas has begun to round into a better form as of late, while St. Louis has given up 24 goals in their last ten games.

Potential Lineup:

We should see another round of a 4-3-3 out of St. Louis.

Burki; Wallem, Kessler, Fall, Padelford; Pompeu, Lowen; Durkin; Ostrak, Klauss, Hartel

Keys To Three Points over St. Louis

1. Return to what worked last time: The June meeting between these two clubs showed that Dallas can put together a complete performance when they play to their strengths. The wingsbacks in Eric Quill's new system worked well to pull the St. Louis defense to each side, while guys like Kaick and Patrickson Delgado caused chaos in the middle.
2. Hold steady defensively: Quill has spoken a lot about how the defensive group has improved their communication with one another as of late. We saw that last time out against St. Louis that they didn't allow guys like Klauss to get in behind any of them for big chances. St. Louis is seeing their season on the brink of elimination here, so they will be deparate for a result. Last week against Houston, they were down three goals before storming back for two goals in the final 10 minutes. Because of that, I would expect them to toss a lot more forward into their attack to see if they can catch this FC Dallas defense off guard.
3. Finish your chances: If Petar Musa starts again and is healthy enough (hopefully having last week off did the trick for him), then I feel good about FC Dallas' chances in and around the penalty area. St. Louis has one of the leakiest defenses in MLS right now (their last league shutout was in May), so the chances will be there, but they have to put them away.

1 Note: MLS has a injury report deadline that doesn’t hit until the day before each game. Our scouting reports will include last week's report and will be fully updated the day before with our injury report for FC Dallas.