Rapids vs St. Louis Preview – Mental Health Awareness Night

Commerce City — The Rapids will stay in Colorado to face St. Louis at DICK’s Sporting Goods Park after beating their rivals, RSL, 1-0 at home. The Rapids took the first leg of the Rocky Mountain Cup efficiently. Even though it wasn’t always pretty, the Rapids found a way to beat their Rocky Mountain rivals. The reverse of the St. Louis fixture was a tough watch for many, with a 0-0 draw to start the Rapids’ season at St. Louis. Colorado had only two shots on the night, and with none on target and a 0.20 expected goals tally, it was a worrying sight. Since then, the Rapids have righted the ship, despite a brutal five-game stretch before the RSL win. It hasn’t been all that pretty for St. Louis either. Let’s take a look at the matchup.

When: Saturday, May 24 @ 7:30 p.m. MST

Where: DICK’s Sporting Goods Park

TV/Streaming: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV

Colorado Full Sweep of Utah:

It was a wildly successful weekend for Colorado teams taking on their Utah counterparts, as the Rapids, Rapids 2, and Rapids Unified Team all won their matches against their Utah rivals. The weekend started with the Rapids taking care of RSL at home 1-0, with the lone goalscorer being Djordje Mihailovic in the 70th minute. It was a different look from the Rapids in this match, with Rafa Navarro and Zack Steffen unable to play. We saw the Rapids return to a 4-2-3-1 at times during the game, which helped the team keep the game controlled and limit RSL’s chances. They did this, as RSL only had 0.67 expected goals on the night, assisting Nico Hansen in keeping his first clean sheet as a Rapid. Defensive stability came at the cost of some of the attacking firepower, as the Rapids had just 0.87 expected goals on six shots and three on target. But it was all they needed to down their Rocky Mountain rivals.

After the Rapids win, the main event, the Rapids Unified team, took the field against RSL’s Unified team. The then two-time Rocky Mountain Cup champions (back-to-back) needed only a draw to retain their Rocky Mountain Cup, and they secured a 0-0 draw to do just that. Rapids Unified goalkeeper Colin Underly shone as he stopped every single RSL shot that came his way, earning the clean sheet that kept the cup in Colorado. The Rapids Unified Team had completed their three-peat of the Rocky Mountain Cup and made it 2-0 on the night for the good guys.

The final win of the weekend came courtesy of Rapids 2. After a nightmarish result against the Real Monarchs in the reverse fixture earlier this year, where a nine-man Monarch team equalized in second-half stoppage time and went on to win on penalties, Rapids 2 were looking to complete the sweep of Utah. Monarchs started a strong team, with first-teamers like Nelson Palacio, Brayan Vera, Lachlan Brook, and Jesus Barea appearing for the Utah team.

It started well for the MLS Next Pro side, as Rapids draft pick Sydney Wathuta scored eight minutes in after fellow draft pick Alex Harris beat the offside trap and provided an easy chance for Wathuta. Rapids 2 started looking like the first team when Real Monarchs notched an equalizer just before first-half stoppage time. A second yellow from Rapids 2 centerback Charlie Harper in the 79th minute seemed to spell doom for Colorado, but on the last attack of the game, the Rapids were awarded a penalty as Matthew Senanou was brought down in the box. Kimani Stewart-Baynes stepped up and scored a Panenka with the last kick of the game. With a little taste of their own medicine, Rapids 2 downed Real Monarchs and completed the sweep at home.

Lineup Prediction:

Hansen / Cannon, Maxsø, Murphy, Travis / Atencio, Larraz / Ku-Di Pietro, Mihailovic (c), Cabral / Yapi

The Rapids’ injury report does not look good this week. Rafa Navarro and Zack Steffen have not returned from their recent injuries, and Cole Bassett and Chidozie Awaziem have joined the list. Bassett took a knock during the RSL match, which led to a Bassett for Bassett substitution late in the game, as Sam came on for Cole. This injury will keep him out of the St. Louis match, as will Chidozie Awaziem, who has a non-injury-related issue keeping him out. It takes a lot for Chido to miss a game, so hope all is good with him.

These injuries allow players farther down the depth chart to step up and get the job done. We have already seen it with Nico Hansen, who learned hours before kickoff that he would start in place of the injured Zack Steffen. Hansen stepped in and kept a clean sheet in the Rocky Mountain Cup. With his opportunity, he might have catapulted himself into the number two slot at Rapids goalkeeper, and we could see something similar in other places. This will be a good opportunity for Ian Murphy to step in and step up in place of Chido. Players like Ted Ku Di-Pietro, Darren Yapi, Kevin Cabral, or some recent draft picks could get their opportunity in the next few games.

Chris Armas may be forced to change the team’s look without some key players. It would be difficult to fill in all the pieces in a 4-2-2-2 with one fit striker and no Cole Bassett. However, this could be an excellent opportunity to go back to the winger-heavy system of 2024. Guys like Kevin Cabral, Ted Ku-Di Pietro, both Harris’s, or Sam Bassett could get an opportunity to line up in their natural position out wide. I would expect to see the team use their winger depth in this tough stretch of games, and go back to a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-3-3.

Change in Formation Provides the Spark:

Whether due to necessity or tactics, Chris Armas changed the formation of his Rapids side for the first time since Vancouver. With Rafa Navarro deemed out for the second straight game, Armas had a decision to make. Stick with the 4-2-2-2 that, without Rafa, gave the Rapids their potential most disappointing performance of the year, or look elsewhere for the Rocky Mountain Cup. Armas chose the latter and returned to the 4-2-3-1 of yesteryears. This formation gave Yapi a rare solo striker start, with Djordje returning to his number ten position, which he hasn’t played much in this year.

Despite the change in formation, we didn’t see a much-changed team. The 4-2-3-1 has a somewhat similar look to the 4-2-2-2, but with outright wingers instead of two tens and the would-be second striker, Djordje, falling back into the midfield. This more defensive look gave some much-needed defensive cover for the backline, which had become a concern with the team conceding multiple goals in six of their last seven before RSL. This change did wonders for the team, as they notched their third clean sheet of the season and first in eight games.

Despite the defensive performance, we saw some drawbacks that the 4-2-3-1 has shown in the past. The attack suffered in this match, with the Rapids only putting up 0.87 expected goals on six shots. Yapi got isolated in moments throughout the match, which is a genuine concern for a solo striker setup, which the 4-2-2-2 looked to help. Despite leading the line up top alone, Yapi had another professional performance. The homegrown is racking up this type of performance, and is starting to look like a hard player to drop for Chris Armas. It’s a good problem, and so is the issue of which formation the Rapids will lean towards throughout the rest of the season, as both have shown the ability to get results.

Sophomore and Junior Slump for St. Louis:

After winning the Western Conference in their inaugural season, it has been a disappointing few seasons for the City faithful. St. Louis finished 2024 in 12th place in the West, and it looks even worse in 2025. The third-year team is looking up at everyone who is not named the Galaxy in the West. Couple that with a 2-0 lead evaporating at the hands of their rivals, Sporting KC, at home to draw just two weeks ago, and it has been a rough go at it for St. Louis City.

This city side has struggled to score goals, waiting 220+ minutes to score their first goal of the season. St. Louis could not find the net against the Rapids or San Diego in their first two matches, and it took them the entire first half to find their first against a very vulnerable Galaxy side. They have the third-worst goal output in the league with 11 goals in 14 matches, only beating out Montreal and Austin. In the first meeting between St. Louis and the Rapids, St. Louis had 2.01 expected goals on 17 shots, but could not find the net. It will be a much-changed side for both teams in Colorado, but expect St. Louis to look for ways to be more clinical in the final third.

Despite the slow attacking start, St. Louis started the year with a four-game unbeaten streak, similar to the Rapids. However, they followed this up with ten straight MLS games without a win, with the team’s only win in that stretch coming against Union Omaha in the US Open Cup. St. Louis will have to deal with a quick turnaround after their midweek US Open Cup match ended in defeat at the hands of ex-Rapid Anthony Markanich and Minnesota United. With St. Louis trotting out a strong lineup midweek, it will be interesting to see if there is any rotation in Colorado. This will be a desperate team coming into Colorado, who will look to right the ship of their season and take all three points back to Missouri.

Prediction: Rapids win a close one, and some depth pieces make their mark in the game. Rapids take care of business at home 1-0.

Photo Credit: Mark Shaiken

Thank you for reading Burgundy Wave. Support us via our Patreon starting at $5/month. We’re always looking for new talent. Let us know if you’re interested in covering Colorado Soccer.