Houston, TX– The Colorado Rapids (4-1-5, 7th West) have had one of the toughest three-game stretches you can have in this league. Miami, LAFC, and Vancouver are all some of the toughest opponents in MLS. The Rapids have come out of that stretch with one point, with the feeling that they could have gotten six. It makes this next game against the Houston Dynamo (4-0-5, 9th West) all the more important. Points are at a premium, and Colorado has a good opportunity against a team they scored six on not too long ago. It’s a different challenge away from home. Can Colorado turn around the bad form and get right at Houston? Let’s take a look at the matchup.
When: Saturday, May 2nd @ 6:30 p.m. MST
Where: Shell Energy Stadium, Houston
TV/Streaming: Apple TV
Outplayed in Vancouver
It wasn’t pretty when Colorado made the trip north to Canada to face the Vancouver Whitecaps. It hardly is for opponents playing the Whitecaos this season. From the seventh minute onwards, it was a classic performance from Vancouver, controlling the game and looking dangerous throughout. Colorado, on the other hand, had their worst performance since Seattle. They didn’t look like their usual self against an opponent that was better in almost every way on the day.
In a game where expectations weren’t very high, it still found ways to be disappointing. The biggest problem with the match came from the Rapids’ keeper, Zack Steffen. Steffen has had his moments in net for the Rapids this season, but there are just as many mistakes to go along with his good play. His distribution has been shaky all season, but while that was a problem against Vancouver, he added to it by getting caught in no man’s land on the second Vancouver goal. If there were whispers about Nico Hansen starting before, there are shouts now. Maybe Steffen just doesn’t like being in Canada.
But as Matt Wells said after the game, there were mistakes amongst all eleven in Colorado colors, not just Steffen. It was a game to quickly move on from if you are Colorado. You can boil it down to Vancouver just being a very good team. There is a reason that they have won all their games but one. Anyways, Save the Caps.
Lineup Prediction:
Steffen (c) / Cannon, Holding, Herrington, M. Navarro / Ojediran, Atencio, Aaronson / Sealy, R. Navarro, Minoungou
Ted Ku-DiPietro and Connor Ronan are still out with their injuries. Wayne Frederick II has a new injury, and he will be out for this match with a leg injury. Paxten Aaronson and Georgi Minoungou are both questionable with leg injuries. Georgi looked to limp after his penalty miss on Wednesday. Paxten wasn’t even in the matchday roster. It will be interesting to see if either player goes on Saturday.
While there might be shouts for Hansen now, I don’t think Wells makes that decision at any point this season unless Steffen continues to play as he does in Canada. Rotation will be interesting, especially coming off 120 minutes against the Colorado Springs Switchbacks on Wednesday, and 42 minutes down a man.
Lots of Drama in Houston
Houston has had a middling start to 2026, but there have been lots of headlines to come out of the Texas side since the start of the season. Dynamo head coach Ben Olsen has been on the hot seat after a poor start to 2026. The seat was never hotter after the Rapids beat Houston 6-2 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. It has since cooled off, as the Dynamo has put together some good form recently. The other big storyline came from Ben Olsen calling out his own supporters after their lack of attendance for their US Open Cup matches. It will be interesting to see how the Dynamo fans, who may already be saying OlsenOut, will react to his comments.
On the field, Houston has won four of their last five and two of their last three MLS matches since these two teams last met. But Orlando, San Diego, Louisville, and El Paso Locomotive are teams you are expected to beat if you are Houston. They lost 2-0 in Austin in a game they had a fighting chance in. This Houston team is dangerous; they just haven’t really shown it yet.
It will be a different side from the one the Rapids faced earlier this season. A major addition is Artur’s return in the middle of the park. The MLS veteran’s presence was sorely missed in the first matchup between these two sides. With Houston still having Guilherme Augusto up top, and usual Rapids killer, Mateusz Bogusz, there is danger up top for the Rapids.
Prediction: Colorado finds it more difficult in the reverse fixture, but still gets all three points. Rapids win it 2-1.
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Eamon Shaw 
Matt Pollard 