FC Dallas and the Colorado Rapids will look to build on recent stellar performances and improve their playoff prospects when they meet on Wednesday in a key Western Conference match in Frisco, Texas.

Both FC Dallas and the Rapids produced wins in rivalry matches in their latest games, with Dallas picking up a 2-1 home victory against Houston and Colorado capturing the Rocky Mountain Cup via a 5-0 thrashing of Real Salt Lake.

It was FC Dallas' second victory in its last four games (2-1-1), which lifted them into ninth place (3-2-4, 13 points), just one spot below the playoff line. Dallas missed the MLS is Back Tournament because of a COVID-19 outbreak, but is 2-2-3 since they restarted their season in August.

FC Dallas got a shot in the arm in the win over Houston, when Columbian national Andres Ricaurte made his first MLS start and tallied his first goal for his new club while impressing with his all-around play.

"Andres is an honest player -- he's intelligent, not just creative, and with an amazing vision that can score outside the box, but he's responsible," Dallas head coach Luchi Gonzalez said. "He knows how to fill spaces defensively, he reads his teammates and, and he puts an effort. And so he's a great fit for us."

FC Dallas will be without striker Zdenek Ondrasek, who was transferred to FC Viktoria Plzen in the Czech First League.

Colorado (3-3-4, 13 points) snapped a seven-game winless run (0-3-4) with its dominating 5-0 road win over RSL, handing Salt Lake its worst home loss ever. Diego Rubio led the Rapids' charge with his first two goals of the season and an assist, while Younes Namli also had a pair of assists,.

A pair of 19-year-olds also scored as Argentine midfielder Braian Galvan recorded his first MLS goal and midfielder Cole Bassett also found the back of the net.

"We've been playing better, we've been making it difficult for teams to play against us so tonight was just a continuation of what's been going on with the intensity and the aggression with which the team played," Rapids manager Robin Fraser said. "This has been building for a couple of weeks. It was one of those nights we felt like we had a win coming pretty soon, and a lot of things came together."

This is the 75th all-time meeting between FC Dallas and the Colorado Rapids, with FCD holding a dominating 24-8-6 record at home.