Commerce City, CO– The Colorado Rapids (11-6-13, 9th West) head into the end of the season with their playoff hopes on the line. It won’t be easy, as the Vancouver Whitecaps (16-7-7, 1st West) come to Colorado. Vancouver will fight for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference; Colorado will fight for one of the last playoff spots. Both teams will be highly motivated. It will also be Oli Larraz’s first return to DICK’s Sporting Goods Park since he left for Vancouver in the winter. With the Rapids just three points above Real Salt Lake, 10th place and currently outside the playoffs, every game matters. Let’s take a look at the matchup.
When: Saturday, October 24th @ 7:30 p.m. MST
Where: Dick’s Sporting Goods Park
TV/Streaming: Apple TV
Goalless Draw in Portland
What felt like the yearly embarrassment at Providence Park didn’t happen in Matt Wells’ first year in Colorado, but it wasn’t necessarily the result the team was going for. Portland are even further down the table and desperate for points this late in the season. Colorado could have used this opportunity against one of Portland’s worst sides in a while to take all three points. However, with Portland breathing down the Rapids’ necks and with the history at Providence Park, this was a fairly successful result.
It was a match with a lot of emotion, but few dangerous goal threats. Darren Yapi and Donavan Philip had a few opportunities early to race in behind and finish, but neither could take their chance, and they were the best chances the Rapids had all game. Outside of the few Loic Williams headers that came close. Colorado also was able to suppress the Portland attack, with neither team eclipsing one expected goal. The defense looked mostly stable throughout, as usual for this team at home, but not so much on the road.
The game wasn’t without controversy. Miguel Navarro did a little too much afters with former Rapid Omir Fernandez in the Rapids box after a play along the endline. It was enough for the referee to take another look, but not enough to change his mind. The advertising boards made the play look worse than it really was. Maybe move those back a few feet. Portland also got away with a high elbow by Diego Chara on Yapi that didn’t even get a foul. Was it a red? Probably not. Was it a penalty? Probably not. Either way, rumors say Kristoffer Velde is still on the field arguing. Someone show that man the way to the locker room.
Lineup Prediction:
Hansen / Thompson, Holding, Williams, Navarro / Ojediran, Frederick, Aaronson / Whittaker, Abu Farkhi, Philip
Reggie Cannon, Zack Steffen, and Youssef Maziz are still out. Disappointing for Cannon and Maziz. Ibrahim Sadiq joins the group, and that is the most disappointing of them all. Sadiq has hardly even started in Colorado. He’s been good in his few appearances, but he hasn’t stamped his presence in Colorado yet.
Colorado has depth in the positions that they are missing, however. Wayne Frederick is a more-than-fine replacement for Maziz. Kosi Thompson had Velde in his pocket throughout the match against Portland and deserves another start. Philip has been a revelation recently and would probably start over Sadiq anyway at this point. Colorado’s depth is as good as it has been in a while; it just depends on whether the starters are good enough, depth or not.
Return of Another Former Rapid
Former Rapid homegrown Oli Larraz has been the starter in Vancouver ever since Sebastian Berhalter moved to Middlesbrough in England. He has helped Vancouver stay steady after their historic start to the season. Vancouver and San Jose met at the start of the year, but San Jose has been up and down since. Vancouver have been level and are rewarded with a 1st-place spot as of now.
The Rapids could only be described as shell-shocked when they faced Vancouver earlier in the season. It was the closest the Rapids had been to their season-opening performance against Seattle in how badly they played. Vancouver played well that day and earned the well-deserved win. This time, it will be a new Rapids side, as the entire frontline likely to start wouldn’t have been in Colorado or sniffed a start earlier in the year.
It might be a different-looking Rapids, but will most likely be a very similar Vancouver side. The core is all still there, minus Berhalter. Thomas Muller will also miss this match with his lingering injury. Brian White will certainly be a problem up top, and it wouldn’t be shocking if Oli makes his mark, even though the Rapids have been pretty good at dealing with former players this season. It will be a difficult game for the Rapids, but one that could help them make their intentions clear this season.
Prediction: Colorado continues the trend of drawing, making it four in a row and five in the last six. It’s another disappointing drop of points after a lead, a 1-1 stalemate.
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Eamon Shaw 
Zach Lowy 