Preview: Colorado Rapids vs. San Jose Earthquakes - prediction, team news, lineups

Luchi Gonzalez's men have failed to win their last 11 visits to the Dick's Sporting Goods Park and will head into the weekend looking to end this dry spell.

Match preview

Colorado Rapids failed to stop the rot as they fell to a 3-2 defeat against Columbus Crew when the sides shared off at Lower.com Field on Thursday morning.

Having failed to find the back of the net in their previous two outings, Sam Nicholson gave the visitors a dream start as he opened the scoring inside the opening nine minutes.

However, Lucas Zelarayan took matters into his hands as he scored the equaliser and set up two more goals to put the Crew in a commanding lead before Cole Bassett halved the deficit in the 95th minute.

Robin Fraser's men have now lost six matches on the spin across all competitions, a run which saw them crash out of the US Open Cup following a 1-0 loss against Real Salt Lake in their round-of-16 tie on May 25.

The Rapids' last MLS win came on May 7, when they edged out fellow strugglers LA Galaxy 3-1 at the Dignity Health Sports Park courtesy of goals from Lalas Abubakar, Kevin Cabral and Jonathan Lewis.

With just 12 points from their opening 16 matches, Colorado Rapids are currently rooted to the bottom of the Western Conference standings, only below 13th-placed LA Galaxy on goal difference.

San Jose Earthquakes, on the other hand, returned to winning ways last time out when they edged out Western Conference leaders Seattle Sounders 1-0 at Lumen Field.

Despite seeing over 60% of the ball possession, the Sounders were forced to rue their wasteful display in attack as Jeremy Ebobisse struck in the second half to hand the visitors all three points.

Prior to that, Gonzalez's men were on a run of three consecutive games without a win, picking up one point from a possible nine, and have failed to keep a clean sheet in seven consecutive outings.

San Jose have now picked up 22 points from 15 matches to sit fifth in the Western Conference table but could move level with second-placed Saint Louis City with a win this weekend.

However, they journey to the Dick's Sporting Goods Park where they have failed to win their last 11 visits, losing six and claiming five draws since a 2-1 victory in June 2013.

Colorado Rapids Major League Soccer form:

W

L

L

L

L

L

San Jose Earthquakes Major League Soccer form:

D

W

L

L

D

W

Team News

Colorado Rapids remain without several key players down the spine of the team, including the trio of Ralph Priso-Mbongue, Braian Galvan and Michael Barrios.

Jack Price suffered a season-ending Achilles tendon in March, while American goalkeeper Abraham Rodriguez has been sidelined since mid-February through a severe knee injury.

Other names on the Rapids' injury table are Aboubacar Keita and 30-year-old forward Diego Rubio, who are currently recuperating from ACL and ankle injuries respectively.

As for San Jose, Gonzalez will be unable to call upon the services of experienced defender Carlos Akapo, who has missed the last five matches through a hamstring issue.

Brazilian defender Nathan Cardoso is yet to feature for the Quakes this year after picking up an ACL injury in last October's game against Seattle Sounders.

Colorado Rapids possible starting lineup:

Ilic; Abubakar, Maxso, Bombito; Rosenberry, Nicholson, Ronan, Leyva, Wilson; Lewis, Acosta

San Jose Earthquakes possible starting lineup:

Daniel; Marie, Rodrigues, Beason, Trauco; Yueill, Gruezo, Monteiro; Espinoza, Ebobisse, Kikanovic

We say: Colorado Rapids 1-1 San Jose Earthquakes

Buoyed by their result against Seattle, San Jose Earthquake will head into the weekend with renewed confidence as they look to strengthen their position in the top half of the table. While the Rapids' current form is nothing to write home about, they have a solid record at home against San Jose and should do just enough to keep this unbeaten run going.

How to watch

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