Western Conference co-leaders St. Louis City SC look to continue their surprising expansion season when the last-place Colorado Rapids visit on Saturday night.
St. Louis (10-7-2, 32 points) opened its inaugural season as the 29th team in MLS with a 3-2 win at Austin in late February, and from there tied a league record by winning its first five games as an MLS team.
They’ve fallen off that pace since, but manager Bradley Carnell’s squad has still taken advantage of the fast start to move back atop the West following a 2-1 victory at the San Jose Earthquakes on June 24.
St. Louis settled for a 1-1 draw in their previous meeting with the Rapids in Colorado on April 22, when Michael Barrios’ stoppage-time equalizer gave the hosts a deserved point.
“We got stretched by long balls, diagonal play,” Carnell said of that game. “We’ve come a long way since that game, I’ve felt. We’ve grown as a group. Many new faces (are) pushing hard for game time. So we have almost a revived energy and good group chemistry in the squad.”
But St. Louis could be offensively challenged, with Eduard Lowen to miss a second consecutive game with a quadriceps injury and Joao Klauss (quad) going on three months without seeing the field. That duo has combined for 10 goals and five primary assists this season.
Nicholas Gioacchini leads St. Louis with eight goals.
The Rapids (2-9-8, 14 points) are in danger of early elimination from playoff contention after an eight-match winless run and enter the weekend 11 points off the playoff pace.
They haven’t scored in 270 minutes, and their 14 goals this season is the lowest total in the league. Still, Robin Fraser says he sees reason for optimism after the Rapids drew two of their last three.
“If we were getting outplayed, (if) we were getting outhustled, then I’d kind of be worried,” he said after the scoreless draw against the LA Galaxy on June 24. “But that’s not what’s going on right now.”
The Rapids don’t have any player with more than two goals this season. Diego Rubio (upper body), who scored 16 last season, is still questionable on Colorado’s injury report. He suited up for the first time in more than a month last Saturday but did not play.
–Field Level Media
