First and Last Trip to Canada for Colorado – Rapids Vancouver Whitecaps Preview

VANCOUVER, Canada— The Rapids take their first and only trip to Canada in the regular season with a visit to Vancouver to face the Whitecaps. The Rapids are coming off of a win at home against Charlotte, while Vancouver tied against Toronto at the weekend and Pumas on Wednesday. With the return leg against Pumas four days later, will the Rapids face a tired or rotated Whitecaps side? Let’s look at the matchup.

When: Saturday, April 5 @ 7:30 p.m. MST

Where: BC Place, Vancouver, Canada

TV/Streaming: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV

Redemption against Charlotte:

It was no surprise that Chris Armas and various team leaders like Cole Bassett were not happy with the result and performance against Portland. They made it clear that there needed to be a response from the team against Charlotte, and respond they did.

The Rapids dominated most important statistics in that game: more shots, more shots on goal, and more expected goals. It was their best outing regarding expected goals, with 3.15 xG on the day. This was the fourth game this season in which the Rapids underperformed their expected goals and their worst game on a goal to xG metric. The number of shots blocked by Charlotte contributed heavily to this, so it doesn’t seem like finishing is too big of a concern for the Rapids just yet.

The most impressive stat was Charlotte’s expected goals. They only had 0.51 xG during the contest. The defense was questioned after this start to the season and the heavy loss against Portland. But against an attack of Pep Biel, Patrick Agyemang, and Wilfried Zaha, they stepped up big and completely neutralized any threat that Charlotte had going forward. It was a makeshift backline for the contest, with Ian Murphy stepping in for the injured Reggie Cannon, but Ian Murphy stepped up big and helped the Rapids get their third clean sheet of the year.

The star of the show was Djordje Mihailović. Mihailović scored twice and earned himself Player of the Matchday honors from MLS. His two goals were his first and second of the MLS season, and he scored the first penalty of the year for the Rapids. His first of that game was an assist from Omir Fernandez, Omir’s second of the year. The play to earn the penalty was setup by Djordje, playing Rafa Navarro through on goal when the Charlotte defender, Adilson Malanda, brought down the Brazilian striker in the box. Mihailović converted the spot kick well, and it was all that was needed to beat Charlotte. It was a professional performance from Mihailović, and one that he will hope to replicate throughout the season.

Lineup Prediction:

Steffen / Rosenberry (c), Maxsø, Awaziem, Murphy / Atencio, C. Bassett, Larraz / Mihailović, Navarro, Cabral

The Rapids look almost as good on the injury report as they have all season, with only recurring players making the list with some dropping off. The most notable absence is Reggie Cannon. It’ll be interesting to see why Cannon cannot make it to Vancouver. This is the first injury report that will not have Sam Vines on it for the season, as he looks set to return from the injury that has sidelined him since the middle of preseason. I still think they are slow in bringing him back and opt to start the same backline that got the clean sheet against Charlotte.

The theme for Vancouver should be ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’ Defensively, the Rapids had their best performance of the season, and moving away from what made them successful in that game would be a puzzling move. But if Vines is ready to go, his inclusion could bring a whole new look to this Rapids side. Vines or not, I believe Armas will go with the 4-3-3 in this game, but we could see a switch to the 4-4-2 that we saw midway through the second half against Charlotte. The biggest question of this game and of the remaining games this season is who starts opposite side of Mihailović?

Who Starts at Right Winger?

A growing concern for this Rapids side has been the wing play. It was an issue in 2024, and the apparent fix to their problems, Ted Ku-DiPietro, has been hurt all season. He is slated for a return to training. But in the meantime, there hasn’t been anyone who has stepped up out wide. Djordje Mihailović has helped this problem, but he has yet to really impact the game from the wide position, with his three goal contributions on the year coming from when he is lined up in a more central position on the field.

If Armas wants to stick with the 4-3-3 he has been using the last few games, it does make sense to have Mihailović out wide, getting him into a more attacking position than he would be in in the midfield. With him on one side, the other winger position has a lot of options but not a lot of production. The main three contenders for starting on the wing are Kévin Cabral, Omir Fernandez, and Calvin Harris.

If we are looking solely at production, Omir leads the winger room with no goals but two assists in 124 minutes in league play. Calvin Harris has one goal and no assists in 104 MLS minutes. Cabral has the most minutes with 405 minutes and has been the starter for every game so far but has yet to register a goal contribution. Statistically, Omir looks to be the best of the lot and may deserve a shot sooner than later.

But the big problem with that is the money and how much of it we are giving to Cabral. Cabral is a Designated Player while Omir and Calvin are not taking up nearly as much cap space as Cabral. It looks as if we are still trying to get the most out of our investment with Cabral, and I don’t see the Rapids giving up on Cabral just yet. Although if Omir keeps up playing like he has been off the bench, real conversations will have to be had about that winger spot for Chris Armas and Co.

A Congested Dip in Form for Vancouver:

Vancouver has been one of the best teams not only in the Western Conference but in MLS as a whole. Despite the fact that they remain the number one team in the West, they have had a dip in form as of late, and a lot of that can be attributed to their congested schedule early in the season. Vancouver has had five Concacaf Champions Cup games mixed in with their regularly scheduled MLS games, and this has seemed to take a toll on the team’s performance. After starting the year winning four out of their first six, they have gone winless in their last three and only had one win in their last five.

Despite their recent form, Vancouver has proven to be dangerous. They beat Portland handily, 4-1 at Portland, beat LA Galaxy 2-1 and kept FC Dallas off the scoresheet, winning at Dallas 1-0. New Whitecaps head coach Jesper Sørensen has the Caps playing like a top team, and it will take a gutsy performance from the Rapids to get anything from this game.

An interesting storyline for this game is how the Whitecaps will line up. The Rapids are sandwiched in between two Concacaf Champions Cup games against Pumas for Vancouver. The Whitecaps rolled about a mostly starter lineup in the first leg and will most likely have to rotate before their return fixture. Whether they rotate more towards a stronger starting eleven or rotate to prepare more for Pumas, Chris Armas will have to be on his toes come matchday at what type of team will line up across from the Rapids.

Prediction: Vancouver rolls out a stronger lineup than expected, but the Rapids give them a good battle. They tie 1-1.

Photo Credit: Mark Shaiken

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