Know Thy Enemy: Revolution vs Rapids Middle-ish Table Summer Swoon Edition
New England is looking to end its June homestand with a win while the Rapids are coming off a solid 2-0 win over the Galaxy.
Both the New England Revolution and Colorado Rapids are looking to avoid a summer swoon and make a move up the standings with tonight’s game at Gillette Stadium (7:30 PM EDT, Apple MLS Season Pass).
The Revs are finishing a three-game June homestand, and after dropping the first two to Eastern Conference powers Cincinnati and Nashville, facing a Rapids squad in a similar position in the table and in health should be a welcome reprieve and opportunity.
New England is starting to get their attacking corps healthy with the returns of Leo Campana and Luca Langoni from the substitutes bench against Nashville. A key midfielder will be missing for both teams however, as the Revs Matt Polster (illness) and Rapids Djordje Mihailovic (ankle) are set to miss the matchup.
The Revs were hoping to capitalize on a month-long homestand that featured only three league matches without leaving Massachusetts. After two one-goal losses, New England is approaching must-win territory as the gap between them and the playoff teams in seventh grows.
Colorado is in a similar position, having won only three of their last nine matches, the three wins coming at home against LA Galaxy, Real Salt Lake, and St. Louis who are the bottom three teams in the West currently. The Revs only win in their last seven games was at bottom of the East Montreal. So with everyone unable to beat good teams in precarious postseason positions - New England below the playoff line and Colorado currently in a play-in game spot - every win/result/point is important for both teams.
The Rapids at least have some room between them and the playoff drop, but how much they can improve above the play in game is harder to gauge. Colorado is one point behind LAFC in the standings, but the Black and Gold have a staggering three games in hand. New England meanwhile are five points back of NYCFC with only one game in hand and would have to jump two teams to even reach the play-in game. Midtable nightmares all around for sure.
Interestingly, as if we didn’t need more similarities, both teams have a bottom-five offense in their respective conference (21 goals for NE to 20 for COL) and the Rapids defense is also not too bad (25 GA compared to NE’s league best 18 allowed).
As always we are joined by our good friend Matt Pollard of Burgundy Wave to tell us a very familiar story about the Rapids…cause it really reminds me of the Revs, like a lot. Be sure to head over to their site for my answers to Matt’s questions, including a potential NWSL expansion rivalry between two new green teams? I’m not sure I can handle another Boston/Denver soccer kit clash now that I think about it…yes I’m still mad about the Burgundy vs Red games, no I’m not getting over it.
TBM: So not a lot of goals for the Rapids this year (we know the feeling), Djordje Mihailovic is great but he's not playing striker? What's going on with the attack this year and are reinforcements on the way?
MP: Other than Mihailović, everything and everyone is just slightly off. There's been injuries. Rafael Navarro is just coming back from an ankle injury. Cole Bassett hasn't been healthy for much of the year. Chris Armas hasn't settled on a best XI or what formation to put them in due to injuries and dips in form, which haven't helped. It's hard to score goals when the midfield can't create field tilt and the defense is worried about counter attacks. Elsewhere, even the most optimistic Rapids fans think Kévin Cabral is a bust. Prior to Wednesday, Rapids wingers had just one goal on the season. Calvin Harris doubled that, so that's a start.
It's kind of like when the Revs go through a rough patch where Carles Gil is cooking but nobody else is playing well. Djordje had an ankle injury in training, so he's out for tomorrow. I would guess Darren Yapi starts up top with Rafael Navarro and they try to create chances off the press. Navarro does all the dirty work you'd want from a No. 9, but so many games this year, he's starved of service on Center Back Island. Yapi will provide support. But Mihailović is the best at getting him (and everyone else) chances. If the press doesn't work, it will come down to an individual effort from an unlikely goal scorer. We're still waiting on Ted Ku-DiPietro to open his account. Can Harris do it on a rainy night in Foxborough?
TBM: Zack Steffan could easily be with the USMNT right now if not for injury, but Nick Hansen has been pretty good this year. Talk about the Rapids keepers/defense which seems pretty good so far.
MP: Nico Hansen has been a wonderful surprise. Take away that bad goal he gave up against Orlando City and he's hardly put a foot wrong. He's got command of his box in the air on crosses and corners. He's made big saves. Stopped a panenka at Portland a few weeks ago. He's not as good playing out of the back as Steffen. The back line has been more conservative to support him compared to playing free and led by Steffen. Zack should be back for Leagues Cup but it suuuucks that he's been injured for three of the four USMNT camps he was due to be a part of under Poch.
Elsewhere, Chido Awaziem who was with Cincy last year has been good but inconsistent. He's a great 1-v-1 defender. A confident and physical sweeper. But he's had a few bad passes that turn into counter attacks. Sam Vines had his best game of the year on Wednesday. He's struggled and was even backing up younger Homegrown Jackson Travis at times. Wednesday saw the return of the "Vines back," a two-way defender who puts star players like Gabriel Pec in his pocket and gets assists. Colorado will need that this weekend.
TBM: Two wins and two draws away from home, and it looks like a road heavier schedule the rest of the way for Colorado, how important is a game like this against an Eastern Conf foe in a similar spot in the table? Could the Rapids improve in the West or are they kind of stuck in that play in game range?
MP: This game is critical because it's the start of a really busy schedule. Two games this week. 4th of July on Friday. Then Wednesday-Saturday for two straight weeks. Colorado needed to win convincingly against the Galaxy. But is that a sign of a turnaround or a blip? We'll find out. A draw against New England and a home win against SKC would be great.
Pending what they do in the summer, they'll finish somewhere between 9th and 6th. They have underperformed in the first half of the year. One or two impact signings in the summer and a healthy second half, they're a playoff team for sure. That said, they'd have to go on a tear to have home field advantage in the best-of-three round. The Burgundy Boys haven't advanced a round in the MLS Cup Playoffs since 2016. As the MLS salary news showed this week, this is still a bottom 10 spend team in the league. "Make the playoffs, hope you can win a round" feels like our endgame, again.
Lineup/Predictions/Injuries/Etc.
Questionable: Bassett (ankle)
Out: Steffen (Knee), Mihailović (ankle), Fadal (knee), Alex Harris (ankle), Frederick (hip)
Lineup prediction: 4-4-2, Hansen / Rosenberry, Maxsø, Awaziem, Vines / C. Harris, Larraz, Atencio, Ku-DiPietro / Yapi, Navarro
Prediction: 1-1 draw. Colorado plays for the press, knicks one on the counter attack in the second half and sees out the result. Navarro and Feingold score.