Fresh off a two-game road trip, the Colorado Rapids return to Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City on Saturday to face St Louis City.
The Rapids are unbeaten in their last four domestic affairs, salvaging a 2-2 draw at Charlotte FC, while St Louis handed FC Cincinnati a first defeat of the MLS campaign, ending a two-match losing run in the process with a convincing 5-1 triumph.
Match preview
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It may not be the prettiest football to watch, but Colorado have been giving themselves a chance with their defensive approach all year, earning four points from a losing position this season, moving them to within a single point of a wildcard berth in the Western Conference.
They can thank Charlotte goalkeeper George Marks for their recent draw as he spilt a routine through ball in stoppage time to give the Burgundy Boys an easy equaliser, helping Colorado match their longest unbeaten run from the 2022 campaign.
Since Robin Fraser took charge of this squad, they have been known to be strong on set-pieces, but the Rapids have surprisingly scored all of their goals so far this season from open play.
Colorado have been underperforming when it comes to expected goals throughout the season, but their defensive structure has come a long way, with the Rapids conceding a goal or fewer in five of eight fixtures, including three clean sheets.
So far this year, the Burgundy Boys have stopped the opposition from scoring a first-half goal in six of eight contests, second only to Nashville SC (seven) and New York City FC (seven).
Their form at home down the stretch of 2022 kept them in playoff contention, failing to lose their final eight matches played at Dick's Sporting Goods Park, although they have been unable to maintain that momentum this season, currently on their longest home winless run since 2020 (three).
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Following a pair of shutout losses, the darlings of Major League Soccer made a massive statement last weekend, moving back into first overall, one point above the reigning champions Los Angeles FC.
Throughout their inaugural campaign, Bradley Carnell has almost always pushed the right buttons to get this team going, with St Louis scoring at least three goals in five of their first eight matches, becoming just the third team in league history to accomplish that feat, alongside the 2018 New York Red Bulls (six) and the 1998 Los Angeles Galaxy (five).
The South African coach has put together a solid foundation with this roster, employing simple tactics such as holding a tight defensive line and putting their opponents on their heels when in possession, both of which have worked wonders through much of the early portion of the season.
They have feasted off turnovers while showing plenty of cohesion and poise, despite the fact that there was not much MLS experience within this group heading into their inaugural campaign.
The numbers for St Louis this season speak for themselves, first in goals scored (20), points (18), wins (six) and goal differential (+11) as across the board, this team have shown they are for real.
St Louis have won every match this year when scoring first and hold a 100% record when leading in the second half, another reason why they are currently leading the Supporters' Shield standings.
Those 18 points accumulated thus far are a record for an expansion franchise at this stage of the competition, as this group are relishing the fact that many had written them off at the beginning of the year, while those players who were let go by their previous MLS clubs have used that rejection to prove others wrong.
Team News
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Andreas Maxso missed the previous match for Colorado with a concussion, Braian Galvan sat out because of a groin strain, Dantouma Toure has a sore right knee, Jack Price will not return this season after tearing his Achilles, Moise Bombito is not expected to return from his knee injury until early May, while Cole Bassett left their last game due to tightness in his hamstring.
Max and Michael Barrios each netted their first of the season last weekend, helping them earn a result in Charlotte, Sam Nicholson delivered his 10th career assist in MLS, eight of which have come with the Rapids and Diego Rubio collected his 23rd assist as a member of the Burgundy Boys, drawing even with Marcelo Balboa for eighth all-time in club history.
Keegan Rosenberry picked up his 120th start in Burgundy colours last week, surpassing Paul Bravo for the second-most all-time for this club, and Jonathan Lewis hit the century mark regarding appearances with Colorado.
Njabulo Blom missed the previous match for St Louis because of a groin strain, and Joakim Nilsson sat out once again with a knee injury.
Klauss set up their opening goal versus Cincy, moving him up to eight goal contributions this year, good for second in the league alongside Daniel Gazdag of the Philadelphia Union, Jordan Morris of the Seattle Sounders and LAFC's Denis Bouanga.
Jared Stroud scored three minutes in their match last weekend, making it the fastest goal in franchise history, while also tying his career high for goal contributions in a single game (two), with the other strikes coming courtesy of Eduard Lowen, Kyle Hiebert, Nicholas Gioacchini along with an own goal from Roman Celentano.
Colorado Rapids possible starting lineup:
Yarbrough; Rosenberry, Abubakar, Wilson; Beitashour, Ronan, Acosta, Nicholson; Barrios, Max; Rubio
St Louis City possible starting lineup:
Burki; Nerwinski, Parker, Hiebert, Nelson; Alm, Vassilev, Lowen, Stroud; Klauss, Gioacchini
We say: Colorado Rapids 1-2 St Louis City
The Rapids have some solid chemistry along the backline and should make it difficult for St Louis to find many openings, but this expansion team have been relentless in the press throughout the campaign and made the most out of their half chances, something which we believe will tip the scales in their favour.
How to watch
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Joel Lefevre
