St Louis City will be looking to snap their six-match winless run when they go head to head with Colorado Rapids to the CityPark Stadium on Wednesday.
The Rapids head into the midweek clash off the back of a comfortable victory over Austin FC and will aim to secure back-to-back wins for the first time since April.
Match preview
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With the 2024 Major League Soccer campaign right at its midway point, St Louis City will need to turn their fortunes around sooner rather than later if they are to secure a playoff berth.
The Missouri outfit have won just three of their 17 matches so far while losing five and claiming nine draws to collect 18 points and sit 11th in the Western Conference standings, five points away from the automatic playoff places.
St Louis failed to find their feet last weekend as they suffered a 2-0 loss against FC Dallas at the Toyota Stadium, with Jesus Ferreira and Nkosi Tafari getting on the scoresheet to hand the hosts all three points.
Bradley Carnell's men have now gone six back-to-back MLS matches without a win, losing three and picking up two draws since their 3-1 victory over Chicago Fire at CityPark on May 12.
St Louis' underwhelming campaign has been owing to their struggles on the road, where they have picked up the third-fewest number of points in the league (5) are the only side yet to taste victory across all competitions this season.
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On the other hand, Colorado Rapids returned to winning ways last time out as they edged out Austin FC 2-0 when the sides squared off at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.
Cole Bassett struck midway through the first half to put the home side in front before Rafael Navarro netted his 10th league goal of the season in the 49th minute to double the advantage.
This was a much-needed victory for Chris Armas's men, who had failed to win any of their previous four outings, losing four and claiming one draw since beating 10-man Vancouver Whitecaps 1-0 on May 18.
Colorado Rapids have now picked up seven wins and four draws in their 18 MLS matches to collect 25 points and sit sixth in the Western Conference table, level on points with fifth-placed Vancouver Whitecaps.
While the Rapids will be looking to secure back-to-back victories for the first time since April, they will need to be at their best on Wednesday as they have lost each of their last three away matches since May's 2-0 win at New York City FC.
Team News
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St Louis will have to cope without the services of defender Kyle Hiebert, who is away at the ongoing Copa America with the Canada national team.
On the injury front, Carnell will be unable to name the duo of Rasmus Alm and Tomas Ostrak, who are currently recuperating from knee and ankle injuries respectively.
Meanwhile, Colorado Rapids will take to the pitch without Canadian forward Kimani Stewart-Baynes, who has been out of action since May through a groin injury.
Daniel Chacon continues his lengthy spell on the sidelines since picking up a severe knee injury last year and will also play no part in Wednesday's game.
Defender Moise Bombito is also out of contention for the Rapids as he is on duty with the Canadian national team at the ongoing Copa America.
St Louis City possible starting lineup:
Burki; Totland, Parker, Nilsson, Watts; Blom, Loewen; Vassilev, Kijima, Pompeu; Klauss
Colorado Rapids possible starting lineup:
Steffen; Rosenberry, Abubakar, Maxso, Travis; Ronan, Bassett; Fernandez, Mihailovic, Cabral; Navarro
We say: St Louis City 1-1 Colorado Rapids
Buoyed by their victory over Austin, Colorado Rapids will head into Wednesday's tie with renewed confidence as they look to put together a fine run of form. However, St Louis have lost just two of their 10 home matches across all competitions this term and we predict that they will do just enough to force a share of the spoils.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
