D.C. United head coach Rene Weiler believes his side must "accept our reality" after their unbeaten run came to an end against the Chicago Fire.

D.C. lost 3-1 during the week at Audi Field, despite leading at half-time through Tai Baribo's opener.

Weiler's side had won just two of their opening seven games (D1 L4) before going on a five-game unbeaten run in MLS (W2 D3), with D.C. now seventh in the Eastern Conference.

D.C. host St. Louis City next, and Weiler believes his team should not "start to dream" after an unsurprising defeat against Chicago.

"You know, now we have to rest well, but I feel it a little bit even here inside that some people there are surprised that we lost this game," said Weiler.

"What people are thinking, we had now five games in a row, positive games. But why do you think now we are a top team overnight?

"We have to play on our boundaries every game. So, hey, come on, it was tough at the end because now it’s a defeat. But we have to recover well and then we will prepare the next game and it will be again a very tough and tight game."

"That is our reality. So I don’t start to dream and nobody should start to dream. We have to accept our reality and where we came from and who we are now."

St. Louis, meanwhile, continued their impressive form in recent weeks with a 2-1 home win over Los Angeles FC on Wednesday.

St. Louis have now won three of their last four games in all competitions, which includes a 2-0 victory over Chicago in the US Open Cup round of 16.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

D.C. United – Tai Baribo

Baribo scored his seventh goal in his 10th career regular-season appearance for D.C. United in Wednesday’s loss to Chicago.

He is the fourth player to score at least seven goals in his first 10 D.C. appearances, after Steve Rammel, Roy Lassiter and Taxiarchis Fountas.

St. Louis City – Eduard Lowen

Lowen recorded his 21st career regular-season assist in St. Louis's win on Wednesday, 10 more than any other player in club history.

Fourteen of those 21 assists came in St. Louis City’s inaugural 2023 season as this was just his seventh assist since.

MATCH PREDICTION – DRAW

The lone previous meeting between D.C. United and St. Louis City was a 2-2 draw at Energizer Park in 2024.

St. Louis have earned four points in their last two road matches against Eastern Conference opponents (W1 D1), their most points in a two-game span on the road against non-conference opponents.

They have also won two consecutive matches after winning just one of their first 10 league matches this season (D3 L6).

St. Louis recorded three winning streaks of three or more matches in its first 21 league matches but has not recorded one in their 93 regular-season matches since.

D.C., meanwhile, have won only two of their last 16 regular-season home matches (D5 L9). Their 19 home losses since the start of the 2024 season are tied for the most in MLS in that time (San Jose, Toronto).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

D.C. United – 41.7%

Draw – 25%

St. Louis City – 33.3%