Fresh off the back of reaching the 2025 US Open Cup round of 16, San Jose Earthquakes journey to the Dick's Sporting Goods Park to face Colorado Rapids in MLS on Sunday morning.
While the Rapids are unbeaten in their most recent three home matches, San Jose have lost each of their last three games on the road and will head into the weekend looking to end this poor run.
Match preview
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Since picking up consecutive away victories over Austin FC and San Jose to start the season, Colorado Rapids' performance on the road has declined, and a 2-1 defeat at DC United last Sunday marked the latest of their recent struggles.
In an action-packed contest at Audi Field, Darren Yapi netted in the 43rd minute to put the visitors in front but Christian Benteke and Hosei Kijima both found the target in first-half stoppage time to turn the tie on its head.
While Colorado Rapids have picked up just one point from their last three games on the road, they now return to the Dick's Sporting Goods Park, where they are unbeaten in five of their six matches across all competitions this season.
With 16 points from their 11 MLS matches so far, Chris Armas's men are currently eighth in the Western Conference standings, level on points with Seattle Sounders and Austin.
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San Jose Earthquakes, on the other hand, picked up a dream start to the 2025 US Open Cup campaign as they secured a 2-1 victory over Sacramento Republic at PayPal Park on Thursday morning.
In a game where Jamar Ricketts received his marching orders, Amahl Pellegrino and Preston Judd hit the target to put the hosts in a commanding lead before Trevor Amann pulled on back in the sixth minute of stoppage time.
Prior to that, Bruce Arena's men snapped their run of three consecutive defeats in the MLS on May 4 courtesy of a comfortable 4-1 victory over Portland Timbers thanks to a brace from Cristian Espinoza and strikes from Cristian Arango and Ousseni Bouda.
San Jose have won four of their 11 MLS games so far while losing six and claiming one draw to collect 13 points and sit 10th in the Western Conference standings, two points behind ninth-placed Dallas.
Next up is a trip to the Dick's Sporting Goods Park, where they have failed to win 12 of their last 13 visits — losing six and picking up six draws since April 2014 — with a 3-2 victory in May 2024 being the exception.
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Team News
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Colorado Rapid will head into the weekend without the services of 21-year-old midfielder Ali Fadal, who has been ruled out since sustaining a knee injury in April.
He is joined on the club's injury table by American midfielder Cole Bassett, who missed the game against DC United last time out through a calf problem.
San Jose, meanwhile, will have to cope without the services of experienced striker Josef Martinez, who is set to sit his third straight game since picking up a leg injury against Columbus Crew on April 27.
Portuguese defender Bruno Wilson is also out of contention for the trip to the Dick's Sporting Goods Park this weekend after coming off injured versus Los Angeles FC on April 13.
Colorado Rapids possible starting lineup:
Steffen; Cannon, Awaziem, Maxso, Travis; Cabral, Atencio, Mihailovic, Larraz; Yapi, Navarro
San Jose Earthquakes possible starting lineup:
Daniel; Floriani, Romney, Munie; Jones, Harkes, Leroux, Costa; Espinoza, Bouda, Arango
We say: Colorado Rapids 2-1 San Jose Earthquakes
Colorado Rapids and San Jose Earthquake have struggled to impose themselves in the new MLS campaign and are currently separated by three points in the midtables. While San Jose will head into the weekend with confidence, rolling their recent two victories, home advantage gives Armas's men an extra edge here and we are tipping them to secure all three points.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
