Thu. Nov 21st, 2024
Rapids Earthquakes Chris Armas Omir Fernandez homecoming
Photo Credit: John Babiak

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Colorado Rapids head to the Bay Area this weekend to play the struggling San Jose Earthquakes. The vibes are up for the Burgundy Boys after a win against LAFC and a hard fought draw against star-studded Miami. Meanwhile, the Quakes have just one win in seven games this year. They blew a 2-0 lead and gave up a 90+11′ winner to Austin last weekend. This is a must win game for somebody, right?

When: Saturday, April 13 @ 8:30 p.m. MDT

Where: PayPal Park, San Jose, Calif.

TV/Streaming: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV

Quakes Talking Points:

The Goonies are bottom of MLS coming into this match. Their defense was their biggest strength going into this year, yet they’ve conceded 17 goals in seven games, the most in the league. They’ve yet to get a shutout, having conceded two or more goals in every match. Injuries have contributed to this.

Goalkeeper Daniel will be out months after hamstring surgery. So former Rapids goalkeeper William Yarbrough could be in goal. He’s still not an above-average shot stopper. Bruno Wilson was their big defensive acquisition in the winter. He was not listed as injured but did not make the squad against Austin. Elsewhere, JT Marcinkowski and Amahl Pellegrino have been dealing with knocks.

Rapids fans will recognize Jeremy Ebobisse and Cristian Espinoza up top. They’ve been scoring goals. But like most years, the Quakes are agents of chaos but also a bad team.

Rapids Talking Points:

Colorado emerges from their tough first seven games with nine points, with four from the last two. That said, they’ve benefited from some injuries to the opponent and penalties. They’re on the mend as well. Captain Keegan Rosenberry could be back this week. They’re looking better in midfield even with Connor Ronan still coming back from a knee injury. Lamine Diack made a substitute debut last Saturday and was good. Jasper Löffelsend could return from a hamstring injury, after just signing a new deal.

Kimani Stewart-Baynes is out with an illness, so Rapids 2 captain Marlon Vargas has been called up on the short-term for the game this weekend. He is more of a central regista. So expect a combination of Calvin Harris and Omir Fernandez at RW. Vargas is similar to Larraz and Bassett. Perhaps this option would allow Bassett to be played further up the pitch. Colorado’s bench will have various options.

There’s still concerns about the attack. This team hasn’t become pressing monsters, yet. In transition and in possession, they’re getting into good areas. That just hasn’t led to repeated dangerous chances on goal. Is Chris Armas still implementing his system? Do the attackers just need a breakout game and then they’ll be fine? Or is the system flawed and are the attackers just not as good as other MLS teams?

The opponent is down bad. This isn’t a must win, but it is a had better win. If you can’t win by multiple goals and dominate this opponent, who can you beat in this league?

Rapids Earthquakes Preview: Betting Odds

Sportsbooks in Colorado have this game pretty even. FanDual for example has a Quakes win at +115. A Rapids win is +220. With slightly better juice, a draw is +230. Once again, the Colorado Rapids are underdogs. As said on the podcast this week, this reporter has a Rapids win 1-0.

Lineup prediction: Zack Steffen / Keegan Rosenberry, Moïse Bombito, Andreas Maxsø, Sam Vines / Cole Bassett, Oliver Larraz / Calvin Harris, Djordje Mihailović, Kévin Cabral / Rafael Navarro

https://twitter.com/ColoradoRapids/status/1778871294102065624

Photo Credit: John Babiak

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