Seattle Sounders vs. Colorado Rapids | 2017 MLS Match Preview

Seattle Sounders vs. Colorado Rapids
2017 MLS Regular Season
CenturyLink Field – Seattle, Wash.
Sunday, October 22 – 4 pm ET
WATCH: MLS LIVE

The Seattle Sounders enter Decision Day presented by AT&T with a chance to claim a top-two seed in the Western Conference – and the Knockout Round bye that goes with it – should they complete the straightforward-seeming task of defeating the already-eliminated Colorado Rapids at home.

It may not be that easy, however. The Rapids – though long-eliminated from contention in the race to the Audi 2017 MLS Cup Playoffs – have taken a shine to the role of spoiler in recent weeks. They’ve picked up seven points from their last three games, dealing serious blows to the playoff hopes of the Montreal Impact, FC Dallas and Real Salt Lake in the process.

The task for interim head coach Steve Cooke and his men will be significantly harder against the team that is firmly in the playoffs, though. The Sounders are unbeaten in their last 12 games at CenturyLink Field and are fresh off a 4-0 pasting of FC Dallas in Week 32.

Though still missing a couple key contributors to injury in the form of Jordan Morris and Osvaldo Alonso, two 2017 additions to the roster – Gustav Svensson and Victor Rodriguez – have stepped up to keep the Rave Green machine rolling ahead of the playoffs. If they can do so once more, the Sounders will be resting up and watching as the Knockout Round unfolds.

Seattle Sounders

Suspended: None
International Duty: None
Injury Report: OUT – D Brad Evans (lower back pain), F Jordan Morris (right hamstring strain), M Osvaldo Alonso (quad injury), M/D Gustav Svensson (hamstring)

Projected Starting XI
(4-2-3-1, right to left)
GK: Stefan Frei – Kelvin Leerdam, Roman Torres, Chad Marshall, Joevin Jones – Cristian Roldan, Harry Shipp – Nicolas Lodeiro, Clint Dempsey, Victor Rodriguez – Will Bruin

Notes: The Sounders are now unbeaten in 12 consecutive home MLS games (9W-3D) and have outscored the opposition 23-7 along the way with seven clean sheets across the 12 matches. … Cristian Roldan leads MLS with 246 duels won this year. He is one of just five MLS players with more than 200 duels won this season.

Colorado Rapids

Suspended: None
International Duty: None
Injury Report: OUT – M Micheal Azira (ankle injury); QUESTIONABLE – D Mekeil Williams (ankle injury)

Projected Starting XI
(4-2-3-1, right to left)
GK: Tim Howard – Marlon Hairston, Jared Watts, Axel Sjoberg, Eric Miller – Mohamed Saeid, Bismark Boateng – Josh Gatt, Stefan Aigner, Dominique Badji – Alan Gordon

Notes: Colorado has lost 14 of their last 17 league away matches (1W-2D) and failed to score in 10 of the 17 league games, never scoring more than one goal along the run. … In 11 games that Josh Gatt has started, Colorado averages 1.3 points per game. In the 22 games he has not started, the Rapids average 0.9 points per game.

All-Time Series

Seattle have won six of their last nine regular season league games against the Rapids (3L), including a 3-1 win on July 4th of this year in the only league meeting between the teams so far this season.

Overall: Seattle 14 wins (37 goals) … Colorado 5 wins (24 goals) … Ties 2
At SEA: Seattle 8 wins (19 goals) … Colorado 2 wins (9 goals) … Ties 1

Referees

Referee: Chris Penso
Assistant Referees: Mike Rottersman, Jeremy Hanson
4th Official: Baboucarr Jallow
Video Assistant Referee (VAR): Fotis Bazakos

Nick Rosano -

@nicholasrosano