FC Dallas begins gauntlet of road games starting in Minnesota

The weekly schedule in Major League Soccer is what you make of it. Every season, a new one comes out and you are usually presented with some easy stretches and then some very hard stretches.

Following last week's disappointing home loss to the Seattle Sounders, FC Dallas now faces a difficult few weeks that could end up being one of their toughest on the season when they hit the road for three straight weeks, first starting with a match in Minnesota this weekend.

They'll then head to South Beach to battle Lionel Messi and Inter Miami, who will also be dealing with the Vancouver Whitecaps over the next couple of weeks in the Concacaf Champions Cup semifinals.

Last on the long trip, will be the club's first meeting with former FC Dallas assistant coach Mikey Varas and San Diego FC.

"This is sort of a gauntlet part of the schedule," said FC Dallas manager Eric Quill on the upcoming schedule. "We knew this was coming. Players, rotations, opportunities are going to be there. It's a big month ahead. We're expecting to come out of this road spell feeling good about ourselves."

While FC Dallas has struggled at home in 2025, the club is currently unbeaten in four road games in 2025, all against playoff teams from 2024. Quill's club was able to pick up wins in Salt Lake and over rivals Houston, while finding come-from-behind draws in Colorado and Atlanta.

Quill and his staff know that struggling at home (1-3-0 at Toyota Stadium so far in 2025) means the team has to find ways to continute to grind out points on the road.

"It's really important to stay in the race," said Quill. "It is a marker (in this league) that great teams don't go on losing streaks. We have a great test ahead of us. Minnesota is a great club. We need to take care of our mentality, our style, and we have to fix some things."

Minnesota enters Saturday's match unbeaten in their last seven games, including a scoreless draw against Toronto FC last weekend. The Loons have been one of the league's best counter attacking teams thanks to their defense that has only given up seven goals this season.

"They're very fast and very vertical. Eric Ramsey has done a great job there. They have a true identity and they're at home," explained Quill. "It's a tough place to play, but so far this year, we've stepped up to those challenges."

A win or draw on Saturday would also extend FC Dallas' current three-game unbeaten streak in Minnesota. Though, Quill isn't looking for anything less than three points.

"We know we have to have the mentality in this game to go for three points. We're not going there to steal a point. We're going there to win the game."