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Colorado Rapids
Major League Soccer | Gameweek 41
Oct 21, 2021 at 2am UK
Dick's Sporting Goods Park
Seattle Sounders

Colorado
1 - 1
Seattle

Badji (66')
FT(HT: 0-0)
Roldan (81')
Medranda (63'), O'Neill (88')

Preview: Colorado Rapids vs. Seattle Sounders - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Thursday's Major League Soccer clash between Colorado Rapids and Seattle Sounders, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

The Seattle Sounders can increase their lead atop the Western Conference table when they take on the Colorado Rapids at Dick's Sporting Goods Park on Wednesday.

Colorado will have revenge on their mind after the Rave Green handed them their worst defeat of the season, 3-0 in early October.


Match preview

Colorado Rapids forward Michael Barrios (12) celebrates his goal with forward Andre Shinyashiki (9) in the second half against the Los Angeles Galaxy at Dick's Sporting Goods Park on September 11, 2021© Reuters

Heading into this month with points in 12 consecutive fixtures, the Rapids have cooled off a little bit, losing two of their last three games.

Their normally stingy defence left a lot of gaps in between the lines on Saturday, and their rivals Real Salt Lake made them pay, going ahead after 13 minutes and scoring three goals against them for the second time this year.

The Burgundy Boys conceded seven goals on their recent three-game road trip, and they will be happy to be back home on a field where they have collected consecutive clean sheets.

Robin Fraser has seen his players react well when going down a goal, as they came from behind to beat Minnesota United 3-1, but ultimately they could not get into those dangerous areas enough to trouble Claret and Cobalt.

Their recent run of poor results has set them back in their quest to capture the top spot in the Western Conference for the first time in their history, currently, six points behind Seattle, although a win this week could close that gap and make it a three-horse race once again, with KC just a point above Colorado heading into this match, with the Wizards getting set to face Seattle on Saturday.

Even though the Sounders handled the Burgundy Boys in their last meeting, the Rapids should be feeling reasonably comfortable playing the Rave Green at home, where they have not suffered a defeat against them since 2018.

Seattle Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer reacts on May 9, 2021© Reuters

For the first time in quite a while, the Sounders were off their game this weekend, conceding twice in the opening 20 minutes, falling 2-1 to the Houston Dynamo.

In the end, it was no harm, no foul, as Brian Schmetzer's side got some help from the Vancouver Whitecaps, who edged Sporting Kansas City 2-1, enabling Seattle to maintain its five-point lead in the Western Conference.

Their 3-4-2-1 formation that looked so good in their Cascadia Cup tie versus Vancouver were anything but good in Houston.

The off-the-ball movement and running was invisible for large stretches of their weekend encounter, while their attacking sequences were predictable, lacking imagination and urgency.

You have to think that their performance versus the Dynamo was just a one-off as we rarely see this experienced group put together consecutive poor performances.

Defensively they will need to be sharp the rest of the way if they want to claim the top spot in the conference going into the playoffs, as they host Sporting Kansas City this upcoming weekend, before wrapping up the regular season against three teams fighting desperately for a playoff berth in Los Angeles FC, the Galaxy and the Caps.

Colorado Rapids Major League Soccer form:
  • D
  • D
  • W
  • L
  • W
  • L

Seattle Sounders Major League Soccer form:
  • L
  • W
  • W
  • W
  • W
  • L

Seattle Sounders form (all competitions):
  • L
  • W
  • W
  • W
  • W
  • L



Team News

Colorado Rapids head coach Robin Fraser pictured on May 30, 2021© Reuters

Younes Namli scored his first goal of the season for the Burgundy Boys on Saturday, becoming the 17th different player to find the back of the net for them this year, while Jack Price, who leads the team in assists with 11, made his 100th appearance for Colorado.

Defender Keegan Rosenberry picked up his 160th MLS cap, with half of his appearances coming with the Rapids, while goalkeeper William Yarbrough has only allowed one goal in his last three games played at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.

Danny Wilson missed their weekend fixtures because of a red card suspension, as Lalas Abubakar replaced him in central defence and Cole Bassett was in the starting 11 instead of Namli, who came on as a substitute.

Jimmy Medranda scored his fourth goal of the season for Seattle near the end of the first half against Houston, setting a new career-high, while Will Bruin and Fredy Montero will hope to add to their impressive tally against the Rapids, having each scored four times against them in their Seattle careers.

Jordan Morris and Jordy Delem are still out with ACL issues, Nicolas Lodeiro continues to recover from right knee surgery, Brad Smith has a right AC joint sprain and their leading goalscorer Raul Ruidiaz missed a third consecutive match due to a left hamstring strain.

Four of the five Sounders players who featured during the international window saw the field on Saturday, including Cristian Roldan, Nouhou Tolo, Alex Roldan and Xavier Arreaga.

Colorado Rapids possible starting lineup:
Yarbough; Trusty, Abubakar, Rosenberry; Barrios, Warner, Price, Galvan; Lewis, Bassett; Rubio

Seattle Sounders possible starting lineup:
Frei; Cissoko, Arreaga, O'Neill; A. Roldan, Paulo, Benezet, Rowe; C. Roldan, Montero; Bruin


SM words green background

We say: Colorado Rapids 1-1 Seattle Sounders

These are the two best defensive sides in the Western Conference, who are both coming off defeats, but rarely do we see either of them lose consecutive affairs, so expect to see a lot of tight marking with very little space in attack.


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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 52.74%. A draw had a probability of 25.3% and a win for Seattle Sounders had a probability of 21.99%.

The most likely scoreline for a Colorado Rapids win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.97%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (10.23%) and 2-1 (9.42%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.94%), while for a Seattle Sounders win it was 0-1 (7.57%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with an 11.9% likelihood.


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Game History

How you voted: Colorado vs Seattle

Colorado Rapids
14.3%
Draw
39.3%
Seattle Sounders
46.4%
28
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Eastern Conference

TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Inter MiamiInter Miami34228479493074
2Columbus Crew34199672403266
3FC CincinnatiCincinnati341851158481059
4Orlando City34157125950952
5Charlotte FCCharlotte FC34149114637951
6New York City FCNY City34148125449550
7New York Red BullsNY Red Bulls34111495550547
8CF MontrealMontreal341110134864-1643
9Atlanta UnitedAtlanta341010144649-340
10DC United341010145270-1840
11Philadelphia UnionPhiladelphia34910156255737
12Toronto34114194061-2137
13Nashville SCNashville3499163854-1636
14New England RevolutionNew England3494213774-3731
15Chicago Fire3479184062-2230

Western Conference

TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Los Angeles FCLos Angeles34197863432064
2Los Angeles GalaxyLA Galaxy34197869501964
3Real Salt LakeSalt Lake341611765481759
4Seattle SoundersSeattle34169951351657
5Houston DynamoHouston34159104739854
6Minnesota UnitedMinnesota Utd34157125849952
7Colorado RapidsColorado34155146160150
8Portland TimbersPortland341211116556947
9Vancouver WhitecapsVancouver34138135249347
10Austin FCAustin34119143948-942
11Dallas34118155456-241
12St Louis City34813135063-1337
13Sporting Kansas CityKansas3487195166-1531
14San Jose EarthquakesEarthquakes3463254178-3721


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