The Colorado Rapids will look to extend their unbeaten run at home against Dallas to seven games when both teams do battle on Saturday from Dick's Sporting Goods Park.
Colorado are coming off of a hard-fought 2-1 loss to LAFC, while Dallas are winless in their last three matches and looking to climb out of the basement in the Western Conference standings.
Match preview
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Six games into their 2021 campaign, the Rapids are right around the same spot as they were a year ago, currently, in fifth place with 10 points, one more than they had after six games in 2020.
Despite losing to LAFC last week, there is a lot to like about this team through the early stages of this campaign, particularly their ability to compete and a significant improvement in the goalscoring department, scoring in all but one game this season.
Defensively manager Robin Fraser has seen his side be a lot stronger when it comes to shutting down their opponents as they have limited the opposition to five shots or fewer on target in five of their six matches to this point of the campaign.
This Rapids squad may not be the most talented, but they are full of character and they have shown they are a tough opponent while also being extremely difficult to break down after six matches.
They are missing a dependable number nine striker who can put away some of the opportunities they have created, with no one on the squad hitting double figures in goals since Diego Rubio scored 12 in the 2019 season.
Dallas have been one of the major surprises and disappointments in the early portion of the 2021 MLS campaign, currently dead last in the Western Conference with just one victory to go along with three draws.
They certainly have not always played poorly, but they have not created enough quality scoring chances, and they continue to make mental errors, which have come back to bite them.
Last week they had over 60% of the possession, fired 29 shots against Real Salt Lake and had the lead in the 83rd minute but they still showed their inability to close out a match in which they dominated in many respects.
Franco Jara finally got going with his first goal of the season, but for manager Luchi Gonzalez and his team, they still have a lot of work to do when it comes to finding that killer instinct in the final third.
The Toros have maintained at least 55% of the possession in five of their matches, yet they still look stagnant going forward while not looking overly threatening to opposing defences.
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Team News
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Colorado could be missing Braian Galvan, Steven Beitashour and Younes Namli, all of whom have unknown injuries.
Former Dallas winger Michael Barrios notched his first goal in a Rapids uniform last week in a losing effort, while midfielder Cole Bassett already has two goals in this campaign, which is three shy of what he had all of last season.
Dallas could be without forward Jesus Ferreira, who has been out with a shoulder injury since the middle of April.
Central midfielder Thomas Roberts is unlikely to see the field on Saturday due to a leg injury.
Goalkeeper Kyle Zobeck is nursing a hamstring injury that he sustained earlier this month.
Defender Ryan Hollingshead had a stellar match last weekend for Dallas with a team-high three tackles, one chance created along with a goal as he was named to the MLS Team of the Week.
Colorado Rapids possible starting lineup:
Yarbrough; Vines, Trusty, Wilson, Abubakar, Rosenberry; Bassett, Price, K. Acosta; Rubio, Barrios
Dallas possible starting lineup:
Maurer; Munjoma, Hedges, Martinez, Hollingshead; Tessmann, B. Acosta; Obrian, Ricaurte, Vargas; Jara
We say: Colorado Rapids 1-1 Dallas
Early on, these teams have had similar struggles so far, lacking that quality up front to make the difference between one point and three.
Expect to see two sides defensively sound who will at the very least not want to come away from this contest empty-handed.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Colorado Rapids win with a probability of 48.08%. A win for Dallas had a probability of 26.75% and a draw had a probability of 25.2%.
The most likely scoreline for a Colorado Rapids win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.83%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.38%) and 2-0 (8.5%). The likeliest Dallas win was 0-1 (7.62%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.96%). The actual scoreline of 3-0 was predicted with a 4.4% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Colorado Rapids would win this match.
