Colorado Rapids vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 2018 MLS Match Preview

Dylan Butler

Colorado Rapids vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC
2018 MLS Regular Season – Week 14
Dick’s Sporting Goods Park — Commerce City
June 1 - 9 pm ET
WATCH: TSN, ESPN+

After rallying to score the late equalizer for a second consecutive game, Vancouver Whitecaps FC are looking to buck the trend of four straight draws when they head to Dick’s Sporting Goods Park to meet a reeling Colorado Rapids team that has dropped six straight following a 3-2 home defeat to the Portland Timbers.

Vancouver have won three of the last seven games against Colorado (1L-3D). The Whitecaps have averaged 1.7 goals per game across those seven games, per Opta

Colorado Rapids

Anthony Hudson made two changes to the team that lost to NYCFC, 4-0, the previous week with Jack Price returning from suspension to start in central midfield and Shkelzen Gashi replaced Joe Mason to partner with Dominique Badji up front.

Samuel Armenteros struck for a first-half brace and Diego Valeri extended the Timbers lead to 3-1 in the 56th minute before Yannick Boli netted a cosmetic penalty kick — his first MLS goal — for Colorado (2-7-2), which dropped their sixth straight game.

“I think it’s difficult in our run to take about lots and lots of positives,” Hudson said after the match. “All I would say is they kept going, they kept working and we’re better than the results are showing recently. We’re a better team than that.”

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: F - Dominique Badji
International duty: None
Injury Report: OUT: D - Kortne Ford (left MCL sprain), D - Marlon Hairston (right knee surgery)

Projected Starting XI
(3-5-2, right to left)
GK: Tim Howard — Deklan Wynne, Danny Wilson, Tommy Smith — Bismark Boateng, Sam Nicholson, Jack Price, Enzo Martinez, Edgar Castillo — Dominique Badji, Joe Mason

Notes: The Rapids have scored 1.2 goals per 90 minutes in the nearly 926 minutes that Enzo Martinez has been on the field. That number drops to 0.6 goals per 90 minutes played in the 139 minutes he has not been on the field. … Colorado in the midst of a six-game losing streak in league play, their longest since dropping a franchise-worst seven straight from July 30-Sept. 5, 2014. They have scored a total of four goals in that time.

Vancouver Whitecaps FC

Carl Robinson made four changes to the team that played FC Dallas to a 2-2 draw the previous week with Sean Franklin and Marcel de Jong returning to outside back and Cristian Techera and Alphonso Davies starting on both sides of the four-man midfield.

Techera’s insertion proved massive as the Uruguayan midfielder struck for his first career MLS hat trick, including the 74th-minute equalizer over the span of 25 minutes as Vancouver (4-5-5) rallied from a two goals down and a pair of deficits to draw the New England Revolution, 3-3, at BC Place Saturday.

"We need to stop conceding silly, stupid needless goals and that’s just individual detail," Robinson said after the match. "The defending has not been good enough and we need to address it."

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: D - Kendall Waston
International duty: D - Kendall Waston
Injury Report: OUT: GK - Stefan Marinovic (left knee sprain); DOUBTFUL: M - Jordon Mutch (right hamstring strain), D - Marcel de Jong (hamstring)

Projected Starting XI
(4-4-2, right to left)
GK: Brian Rowe — Jake Nerwinski, Aly Ghazal, Jose Aja, Brett Levis — Cristian Techera, Felipe, Efrain Juarez, Alphonso Davies — Kei Kamara, Yordy Reyna

Notes: No player has won more aerial duels this season than Kei Kamara (62). Since the start of 2015 Kamara is the only player to have won 400 aerial duels in MLS (418). … The Whitecaps have earned a draw in four straight league matches, the longest streak in franchise history and tied for the third-longest streak by any MLS club since 2010.

All-Time Series

Overall: Colorado Rapids 9 wins, 28 goals … Vancouver Whitecaps FC 7 wins, 26 goals … 4 ties
At Colorado: Rapids 7 wins, 16 goals … Whitecaps FC 2 wins, 8 goals … 1 tie
Last meeting at Colorado: Colorado Rapids 2, Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 (Aug. 5, 2017)