Austinvs.Colorado

Coming off the back of a thrilling stalemate against Dallas, the Rapids will head into this one looking to secure their first win of the new MLS campaign and snap their run of eight back-to-back league games without a win.

Match preview

Austin were left red-faced in their second outing of the new MLS campaign as they suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat against Portland Timbers at the Providence Park last Sunday.

Following a goalless first half, the visitors were made to rue their wasteful display in front of goal as Portuguese forward David Pereira da Costa netted in the 89th minute to hand the Timbers all three points.

Before that, Ghanaian international Osman Bukari grabbed the headlines for Austin in February's season opener as he struck the only goal of the game in the 76th minute to hand them a 1-0 victory over Sporting Kansas City at the Q2 Stadium.

Nico Estevez's men come into the new campaign looking to improve on their performance from last season, when they finished 10th in the Western Conference standings, five points off ninth-placed Portland in the final playoff spot.

The major issues for Austin last term came in attack — where they finished with the fewest number of goals in the West (39) — a concern they will need to address this year, having netted just once from their opening two games.

Elsewhere, Colorado Rapids were involved in a share of the spoils for the second consecutive league game as they played out a pulsating 3-3 stalemate with Dallas at Dick's Sporting Goods Park last Sunday.

After going two goals up through strikes from Keegan Rosenberry and Rafael Navarro, Colorado found themselves trailing by one after Pedrinho, Luciano Acosta and Petar Musa hit the target to turn the game on its head, but Navarro netted his second of the game in the 72nd minute to force a share of the spoils.

Before that, Colorado Rapids were denied a dream start to the 2025 league campaign as they were held to a goalless draw by St. Louis City when the two sides squared off at CityPark.

Sandwiched between the two stalemates, Chris Armas's men were dumped out of the CONCACAF Champions Cup on away goals as they fell to a 1-0 second-leg loss against Los Angeles FC on February 26, having secured a 2-1 home win four days earlier.

Colorado Rapids head into the weekend without a win in any of their last seven MLS matches, a run which saw them crash out of last season's playoffs in the first round courtesy of a humbling 9-1 aggregate loss against LA Galaxy.

Austin FC Major League Soccer form:

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Colorado Rapids Major League Soccer form:

Colorado Rapids form (all competitions):

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Team News

Julio Cascante was forced off injured shortly before half time in the defeat to Portland Timbers last time out and the Costa Rican centre-back is a major doubt for this weekend's clash.

Should the 31-year-old fail to shake off the injury, Ukrainian international Oleksandr Svatok should come into the fray, forming the back four with Mikkel Desler, Brendan Hines-Ike and Guilherme Biro.

As for Colorado Rapids, the trio of Andreas Maxso, Jackson Travis and 20-year-old forward Darren Yapi continue their spells on the sidelines and are out of contention for Sunday's tie.

They are joined on the club's injury table by American defender Sam Vines, who has been ruled out since coming off injured against LA Galaxy in the playoff on November 2.

Fellow countryman Theodore Ku-DiPietro is also yet to feature this year, having sustained a shoulder injury back in October, and the 23-year-old midfielder will play no part for the visiting side.

Austin FC possible starting lineup:

Stuver; Desler, Svatok, Hines-Ike, Biro; Obrian, Sanchez, Pereira, Bukari; Vazquez, Wolff

Colorado Rapids possible starting lineup:

Steffen; Cannon, Awaziem, Murphy, Rosenberry; Bassett, Larraz, Atencio; Cabral, Navarro, Mihailovic

We say: Austin FC 2-1 Colorado Rapids

While Colorado Rapids will take the positives from their stalemate against Dallas last time out as they set out in search of their first league win, they have failed to win any of their last six competitive games on the road since mid September.

Austin are unbeaten in their most recent three home games against the Rapids and we are backing them to brush off their narrow defeat against Portland by claiming maximum points here.

Written by

Joshua Ojele

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