St Louis City and Colorado Rapids will be looking to kick off the 2025 MLS campaign on a high when they go head to head in the season opener at Energizer Park on Saturday night.
The Rapids head into the weekend off the back of a hard-fought victory in their all-MLS clash with Los Angeles FC in the CONCACAF Champions Cup and aim to build on that result.
Match preview
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Playing their second-ever season in MLS, St Louis City failed to replicate the success from their debut campaign last term as they finished 24th in the Supporters' Shield standings.
One year on from storming to the Western Conference title, the Missouri outfit managed just eight wins from their 34 matches while losing 13 and claiming 13 draws to collect 37 points and sit 12th in the table, only above San Jose Earthquakes and Sporting Kansas City.
Their defensive frailty proved to be one of the main factors behind their underwhelming campaign, with 63 league goals conceded making them finish with the third-worst record in that regard over in the West.
St Louis City head into this weekend's season curtain-raiser fresh off the back of a somewhat disappointing 2-1 defeat at the hands of San Jose Earthquake in their final warm-up game in California's Empire Polo Club last Saturday.
This capped off an unconvincing pre-season performance from Olof Mellberg's men, who failed to win four of their six friendly games, losing twice and claiming two draws while conceding six goals and scoring seven.
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Colorado Rapids, meanwhile, kicked off the new competitive calendar year on a high as they secured a 2-1 victory over Los Angeles FC in the first leg of their Champions Cup at the Dick's Sporting Goods Park on Tuesday night.
Following a goalless first half, 26-year-old forward Dorde Mihailovic took matters into his own hands as he struck twice, including a sublime free kick in the 80th minute, to put the hosts in a commanding lead before Aaron Long netted in the 86th minute to give Los Angeles a lifeline in the tie.
This was in keeping with their impressive display in pre-season, where they finished unbeaten in each of their five warm-up matches, picking up two wins and three draws while scoring eight goals and keeping two clean sheets.
Colorado Rapids come into the new league season off the back of a solid 2024 campaign as they picked up 15 wins and five draws from their 34 regular-season games to finish seventh in the Western Conference table and clinch the final automatic playoff spot.
However, Chris Armas's men fell flat in the first hurdle of the playoffs, where they suffered a humbling 9-1 aggregate defeat at the hands of Los Angeles Galaxy — including a 4-1 thrashing on home turf — in the first round.
The Rapids will be backing themselves to continue from where they left off on Wednesday and kick off the league campaign on a positive note as they take on an opposing side who lost their two meetings last year and have managed just one win from their four clashes since April 2023.
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Team News
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St Louis City will have to cope without 25-year-old midfielder Chris Durkin, who continues his lengthy spell on the sidelines after sustaining a knee injury back in September.
He is joined on the club's injury table by fellow midfielder Tomas Ostrak and forward Celio Pompeu, who are currently recuperating from ankle and fibula injuries respectively.
Colorado Rapids remain without the services of 23-year-old midfielder Theodore Ku-DiPietro, who is set to miss the start of the season after undergoing shoulder surgery.
Mihailovic continued his fine form from pre-season as he struck twice to inspire the Rapids to a first-leg win over Los Angeles FC in midweek and we expect the 26-year-old to lead the visitors' attack once again.
He should form the front two with Brazilian forward Rafael Navarro while we could see an unchanged back four of Reggie Cannon, Chidozie Awaziem, Ian Murphy and Keegan Rosenberry for the second consecutive game.
St Louis City possible starting lineup:
Burki; Totland, Kessler, Nilsson, Horn; Teuchert, Watts, Loewen, Hartel; Becher, Klauss
Colorado Rapids possible starting lineup:
Steffen; Cannon, Awaziem, Murphy, Rosenberry; Cabral, Bassett, Larraz, Fernandez; Navarro, Mihailovic
We say: St Louis City 2-2 Colorado Rapids
Following their midweek Champions Cup triumph, Colorado Rapids will head into Sunday's clash with confidence as they look to kick off the league campaign on the right note. However, St Louis City have proven tough to crack on home turf and we predict that they will hold out for a share of the spoils.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
