St. Louis City Colorado Rapids Preview: First vs Last

The Colorado Rapids will travel to Missouri to take on St. Louis City SC, pitting the leaders of the Western Conference against the bottom-dwellers.

This will mark the second ever meeting between the two sides, with the first concluding in a 1-1 draw at DICK’s Sporting Goods Park. The Rapids were the superior team in that encounter, dominating possession and with 13 shots on target to St. Louis’ four. However, they still had to rely on a 92nd minute Michael Barrios goal to scrape a draw in a match they should have won: a familiar storyline for 2023.

Colorado has struggled in the past against expansion sides in their first MLS campaign with only three wins from 10 matches. As the away side in those matchups, the Rapids have a record of 1-3. 

Hot Start

St. Louis City have taken the league by surprise in their inaugural MLS season, currently tied at the top of the Western Conference with the defending MLS Cup champions, LAFC.

St. Louis came out the gates firing, winning their first five games, scoring an impressive 15 goals across that period. Since then, the fire has fizzled out, with only 17 points taken from a possible 42. A dry spell in June saw the expansion side fail to win four consecutive matches, before last weekend’s much needed 2-1 win at San Jose. 

Balanced Attack

Striker Nicolas Gioacchini is without a doubt their main goal scoring threat, as his eight goals in 19 appearances place him in the top 10 of the MLS scoring charts this season. The US international has been in top form as of late, finding the back of the net five times in his last eight games.

Behind Gioacchini is a more balanced attack, as German midfielder Eduard Löwen(who is out with a quad injury) is part of a group of eight St. Louis players with at least two goals and two assists on the year. Furthermore, St. Louis has a remarkable nine players with two or more goals this season, the most in MLS. 

Rapids Injury Report:

St. Louis Injury Report:

Familiar Stakes

As has been the case for the past few matches, Colorado can lift themselves out of the dreaded “Wooden Spoon” spot at the bottom of MLS with a win coupled with Inter Miami and LA failing to pick up three points. That remains a massive doubt, however, as it seems second or third to last place is all the Rapids have to play for at this point.

Photo Credit: Antonia Geiger, emdashphoto.com.

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