The Seattle Sounders will be looking to secure a third straight win in the MLS this weekend, when they travel to Dick's Sporting Goods Park to face the Colorado Rapids.
The hosts are in fifth place in the Western Conference standings with 15 points after nine games, while the visitors are eighth with 12 points over the same period.
Match preview
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The Colorado Rapids were left disappointed last weekend when they looked to be on their way to a victory over Houston Dynamo, but they conceded a late goal in stoppage time and were forced to settle for a 2-2 draw.
Rafael Navarro earned his side a penalty just before the hour mark, which captain Djordje Mihailovic cooly converted, marking his seventh goal from the spot for the Rapids, tied with Jovan Kirovski for the third-most in the MLS in the club's history.
Mihailovic and Navarro linked up to good effect 20 minutes later, with the latter calmly converting his chance in the 77th minute, marking his fifth goal of the year and 21st since joining the MLS.
The Rapids will now return to Dick's Sporting Goods Park, where they will be gunning a third straight league victory and have scored two or more goals in three of their four matches to date this season.
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Meanwhile, after managing just one victory in their first seven league games this season, the Seattle Sounders are now aiming for a third win on the bounce following last week's impressive display against Nashville.
Danny Musovski opened the scoring against the Boys in Gold, winger Pedro de la Vega finally recorded his first MLS goal at Lumen Field as a Sounder 11 minutes later, and Paul Rothrock secured the points with the third of the afternoon.
Many would likely agree that last week's victory was Brian Schmetzer's side's best performance of the season by some distance, but at 3-3-3, they are still not where they would have expected to be heading into game 10 of the season.
The next task for Schmetzer and co is to carry their recent momentum on the road with them this week, as all three of their defeats this season have come in away matches, while they also failed to score in three of their five league outings to date.
Team News
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Zack Steffen was shown a red card after the final whistle against Houston in the last match and will be forced to serve a one-match suspension this weekend, which should see Nicolas Hansen replace him between the sticks.
The hosts will also be without Adam Beaudry and Ali Fadal, who are ruled out with an ankle and knee injury respectively, but Connor Ronan could return to action this week, having recovered from an appendectomy.
After a tough start to the season marked by injuries, Seattle are finally seeing improvements on the fitness front, with Jordan Morris, Albert Rusnak and Alex Roldan all making second-half appearances in the match against Nashville.
Paul Arriola and Jackson Ragen remain unavailable for the Sounders, but there was a boost on Saturday as former Rangers and Galatasaray winger Ryan Kent made his eagerly awaited debut, coming on in the 84th minute to replace Rothrock.
Colorado Rapids possible starting lineup:
Hansen; Cannon, Maxso, Awaziem, Vines; Bassett, Larraz, Atencio, Mihailovic; Yapi, Navarro
Seattle Sounders possible starting lineup:
Frei; Gomez, Kim, Tolo; Kossa-Rienzi, Roldan, Vargas, Rothrock; De la Vega, Ferreira; Musovski
We say: Colorado Rapids 1-2 Seattle Sounders
While the Rapids have made a better start to the season, the Sounders are getting healthier and are starting to show the type of form that many expected from them at the start of the season.
We are expecting a close contest in Colorado this weekend, but feel that the visitors will be able to continue their upward trajectory by picking up another win in this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
