We enter Decision Day in the Major League Soccer (MLS) regular season, with the Colorado Rapids looking to move into fifth place in the Western Conference when they travel to Q2 Stadium for a date with Austin FC on Saturday.
Already eliminated from playoff contention, Austin were beaten 2-1 by the Los Angeles Galaxy in their previous league fixture, as they sit 10th in the table, while Colorado are sixth, a point behind the Houston Dynamo for fifth following a 1-0 defeat versus the Seattle Sounders.
Match preview
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Another campaign without a post-season appearance was too much for the Austin front office to let slide, and they acted by dismissing manager Josh Wolff.
The only coach in the history of this club had not enjoyed much success since guiding them to the Western Conference final in 2022, their only playoff appearance in franchise history.
Assistant coach Davy Arnaud will be the interim manager for their final encounter of the season before the club begins the search for a new permanent boss.
The Verde and Black have just one victory in their previous seven league fixtures (1-0 versus the Portland Timbers) and have points in only three of those encounters.
With a single point this weekend, they will, at the very least, exceed their points total from a year ago (39) and reach the 40-point plateau for the second time in this competition.
Austin are winless in their last four MLS matches versus the Rapids, with their previous victory against them coming in 2022 at Dick's Sporting Goods Park (3-2).
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It has been a season of redemption and drastic improvement for the Colorado Rapids, who will feature in the post-season for the first time since 2021.
For Chris Armas, it is a big story of vindication after he was sacked early into his opening season as Toronto boss in 2021, with the former New York Red Bulls manager making the most of his opportunity with the Rapids.
Coming into this weekend, the Burgundy Boys are assured of finishing seventh at worst, currently sitting a point above Minnesota United for sixth, but a victory combined with a Houston loss would see them finish fifth.
While they have claimed nearly twice as many points in 2024 (50) as in the previous campaign (27), the Rapids enter this weekend in a slump, having lost three successive league fixtures.
After 33 MLS matchdays, the Burgundy Boys have found the back of the net 59 times, the most for them in a 34-match regular season and three fewer than their best-ever mark from 1998 (62).
Colorado have never lost a domestic encounter against the Verde and Black at Q2 Stadium, though their only victory in the Texas capital came in 2021 (1-0).
Team News
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Due to a lower extremity knock, Austin will likely be missing Mikkel Desler for this regular-season finale, while Leo Vaisanen is out because of discomfort in his foot.
Deep into stoppage time of their previous encounter, Guilherme Biro was issued a straight red card, and he will be suspended for this match.
Sebastian Driussi had the equalising goal for the Verde and Black against the Galaxy, his sixth of the MLS campaign, one fewer than Jader Obrian.
Against Seattle, the Rapids were without Cole Bassett, who remains questionable with a quad issue, and Kevin Cabral was also sidelined for that encounter as he is recovering from an elbow injury.
We saw three new faces in their starting 11 on matchday 33, with Keegan Rosenberry, Sam Vines and Jonathan Lewis replacing Reggie Cannon, Jackson Travis and Omir Fernandez.
Rafael Navarro and Bassett each netted the previous time they met Austin this season, as Zack Steffen did not have to make a single stop to collect a clean sheet in their 2-0 triumph.
Austin FC possible starting lineup:
Stuver; Hines-Ike, Svatok, Cascante, Jimenez; Pereira, Wolff, Driussi; Obrian, Rubio, Gallagher
Colorado Rapids possible starting lineup:
Steffen; Rosenberry, Abubakar, Maxso, Travis; Ronan, Larraz; Harris, Mihailovic, Fernandez; Navarro
We say: Austin FC 1-1 Colorado Rapids
On one side, Austin will just want to end another disappointing campaign, while the Rapids are looking to avoid any serious injuries heading into the post-season, so we do not expect a very entertaining match between the two this weekend.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
