Debut for the Throwback Third Kit- Rapids vs Union Preview

Chester, Pennsylvania– The Rapids return from a ten-day hiatus with an away trip to Philadelphia. Colorado (8-6-10, 30 points, 7th place) will face the Philadelphia Union (14-5-5, 47 points, 3rd place) for the first time since the Rapids won the third-place match in Leagues Cup last season. It will be the first Rapids vs. Union MLS match since the 2023 fixture, which ended in a brawl that resulted in two red cards being shown (remember Gustavo Vallecilla?). Colorado will look to build on the momentum that they got from a historic comeback in Seattle. Four out of the last five Rapids matches have seen a team go 3-0 up. Only half of those games ended with the team up three winning the game. Colorado will look for a less exciting win just before Leagues Cup. Let’s take a look at the matchup.

When: Saturday, July 26th @ 5:30 p.m. MST

Where: Subaru Park

TV/Streaming: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV

Historic Comeback in Seattle:

It was looking to be another disappointing road trip to Seattle, as an Obed Vargas deflected goal and a brace from Albert Rusnak gave Seattle a 3-0 lead 47 minutes into the game. It had been a disastrous outing for the Rapids. All three goals were difficult to concede, especially Rusnak’s first, which saw an ill Zack Steffen caught out after a poor clearance a little too far away from his posts. An early Rusnak second seems to doom Colorado to another horror show in Seattle.

But then Colorado won a penalty. Rafa Navarro did well to punish Cristian Roldan’s poor touch. Djordje Mihailović scored the ensuing penalty. Colorado has some life. Then, minutes later, Rafa wins another penalty. This time, Cole Bassett roofs his penalty. All of a sudden, the Rapids are within one. And to complete the comeback, Darren Yapi solams through the Seattle box and finishes in the bottom corner. No team had ever come to Seattle and come back from a 3-0 deficit. No Colorado Rapids team had ever come back from 3-0 down to get a result. They did both last Wednesday.

It was a gutsy performance from the Rapids to see out a result. From not putting their heads down after going 3-0 down, to surviving all ten minutes of stoppage time that the referee somehow decided was needed. It won’t pop up on the scoresheet, but Rafa Navarro deserves his flowers from this match. He won both penalties and was a key part in the third goal to finish off the comeback. He put everything he had onto the field. Rafa, along with the rest of the roster, deserved the ten-day break and will look to hit Philadelphia and the Leagues Cup in stride.

Lineup Prediction:

Steffen / Cannon, Maxsø (c), Murphy, Vines / C. Bassett, Atencio / Ku-DiPietro, Mihailović, C. Harris / Navarro

The Rapids will only be missing Connor Ronan for their trip to Pennsylvania, as the midfielder is out with an ankle injury. This is a disappointing injury to get for Ronan, who had just started to break into the starting eleven alongside Cole Bassett as the double pivot. In a stacked midfield that had Josh Atencio and Oli Larraz on the outside looking in, Ronan might just lose his spot due to this injury. Fortunately for Colorado, Atencio and Larraz are more than enough to fill in the gap that Ronan will leave in that midfield. I would expect Atencio in Philly and also for much of the future. Atencio brings the most defensive stability alongside Bassett, which allows for Cole to do what makes Cole great.

The most significant area of concern for the Rapids is at center back. Chidozie Awaziem has only recently gone to France. There wasn’t much depth at center back, even with Chido on the roster. The obvious replacement in the meantime is Ian Murphy, who was the clear number three at center back. He will step into a partnership with Andreas Maxsø, but it’s a toss-up who fills the space Murphy will leave behind. Rapids 2 have some standout center backs so far this season. The club also acquired Noah Cobb from Atlanta on loan Friday afternoon.

Charlie Harper or Matthew Senanou could make the jump. We could also see Nate Jones or Michael Edwards recalled from their loans to fill the gap. The Rapids have been in the market for a center back, so I would expect to see a short-term solution in place in Philly while the team works to bring in a long-term center back. Expect to see a Rapids 2 defender on the bench.

It has been a successful return to a 4-2-3-1 formation, which features Cole Bassett in a double pivot. A win against Vancouver at home, and then going into Seattle and clawing back a result in Seattle. I would be surprised to see a switch-up in Philly, unless Armas wants to match the Union in their usual 4-4-2 formation. With only one absentee, Armas has almost the whole squad to pick from.

Has Colorado Solved Their Penalty Problems?

It wasn’t long ago when it felt like the Rapids had some problems from the penalty spot. The best way to remedy this? Score two penalties in the next match. It makes their recent penalty form look much better, scoring from three of their last five, compared to only one goal from their previous three. Not only were the Rapids effective with their penalties, but they were also smart in their use of them.

Despite the question of who the best penalty kick taker on the team was, it was two different takers in Seattle. Djordje took the first, then gave the second to Cole Bassett. This addressed the mental challenge that takes a toll on a penalty taker when taking their second kick in a match. This helped the Rapids stay perfect from the spot on the night and was the catalyst for earning a point after being 3-0 down.

However, it doesn’t make it crystal clear on who should be taking the penalties from here on out for Colorado. After missing his last penalty against Vancouver, Rafa Navarro wasn’t on either spot kick. It seems the team had gone back to Djordje after the responsibility of the first penalty fell to him. He got back in the goal column after his miss against Sporting KC. He has been the usual one on penalties after Rafa started to struggle in 2024. However, some consideration must be given to Cole Bassett.

Not only has he not missed either of his two penalties in the last two seasons, but he shot the best Rapids penalty from those two seasons against Seattle. Both the usual penalty takers, Rafa and Djordje, lack a penalty that is truly unsaveable. Both attempt to send the keeper the wrong way and finish somewhere low on the opposite corner. While this is an effective strategy when the keeper guesses wrong, it has led to some saves lately.

This was not the case with Cole Bassett’s spot kick. His blast straight into the roof of the net was a kick that had both placement and power. It would have been tough for any keeper to stop that type of penalty. While Chris Armas may lean towards the proven Djordje when it comes to future penalties, Cole has shown he can be a viable option, with Rafa not too far away.

Philadelphia Among the Top in the East:

Philadelphia shocked many people after firing longtime head coach Tim Curtin following a disappointing 2024 season. Despite a Leagues Cup run that saw them finish one spot behind the Rapids in fourth, the Union moved on from Curtin for recent St. Louis head coach Bradley Carnell. It has been a decision that has paid off for the Union, as they sit in third place in the Eastern Conference and the Supporters’ Shield, just one point behind FC Cincinnati. Carnell has this team playing some excellent soccer, losing just twice in the last 16 MLS matches.

A key catalyst to Philly’s success so far in 2025 is Tai Baribo. The striker is continuing his goal-scoring form from last season with 14 goals in 2025. Baribo is fourth on the Golden Boot list, just four off of Lionel Messi. Other than Baribo, however, it is goal-scoring by committee for the Union. Bruno Damiani has four goals, and no one else has more than two. However, 15 Union players have at least one goal this season. It will be interesting to see who can step up for Philadelphia against the Rapids. Philadelphia will also look to set pieces to get their goals. Of their 40 goals so far this season, 15 have come off set pieces. The Union has been dangerous off set pieces, and Colorado will have to be aware of that Saturday.

An interesting sidenote for this matchup is the difference in the amount of rest both teams got. Philadelphia had a game last Saturday, while Colorado had the week off. The Union also had two players go to the MLS All-Star Game on Wednesday: Tai Baribo and Kai Wagner. Baribo went 25 minutes, while Wagner played the whole first half. It will be interesting to see how Bradley Carnell opts to rotate his team, given that Philadelphia has less rest and some players are coming off a match just days ago. We could see some changes to the usual Union eleven on Saturday.

Prediction: The Rapids continue their good run of form against top teams. They don’t win, but get a result in Philly. 1-1 draw.

Photo Credit: Spencer Baldwin

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