The early-season road trip continues for FC Dallas this weekend as they take on another conference rival, the Colorado Rapids.
The Rapids are coming off a Knockout Round exit in the Concacaf Champions Cup to LAFC. The Rapids lost the two-game series on away goals, after defeating LAFC last week at home 2-1, before losing 1-0 on Tuesday night.
Let’s dive into how the Rapids look so far in 2025 and how FC Dallas can continue its early season success under new manager Eric Quill.
Key Player: Djordje Mihailovic
I was a pretty big fan of this move by the Rapids last year to bring in Mihailovic. He brings a ton of energy to the attacking side of the midfield for Colorado. The 23-year old finished last season with 11 goals and 14 assists. If you are able to keep him off the ball, you stand a good chance of slowing down the Rapids' attack.
Key Matchup: Josh Atencio vs Lucho Acosta
The true DM vs AM matchup this weekend. Atencio came over in a trade from Seattle around the same time Acosta came over from Cincinnati to Dallas. A very under the radar type of trade for the Rapids, one that they are known for at this point. He gives the Rapids more versatility in the midfield but this weekend he'll be tasked to keep Acosta off the ball and away from goal.
Availability Report1:
Suspended: none
Out: Ted Ku-DiPietro (Shoulder), Andreas Maxsø (Lower Body), Connor Ronan (Lower Body), Jackson Travis (Upper Body), Sam Vines (Lower Body), Darren Yapi (Shoulder)
Questionable: Reggie Canon – (Lower Body)
On Loan: Nate Jones
International duty: none
Quick Notes:
Last year against FCD: The Rapids had their way a bit with FC Dallas in 2024, first winnings a snowy home game in April 2-1. They then picked up a 3-2 win in Frisco in late August.
Last year’s record for the Rapids: The Rapids were a pretty respectable team in 2024. They picked up 50 points, which was good for 7th in the Western Conference, 12th overall in MLS.
Random Week One stat: The Rapids took just two shots last weekend in their 0-0 draw with St. Louis, good for the lowest total of any MLS team.
Potential Lineup: Chris Armes still uses a high press system that has evolved a bit to add in some balance in the mid-block areas. Saturday could see him rotate his roster a bit after starting a pretty first-choice lineup on Tuesday night in LA.
Steffen, Rosenberry, Murphy, Awaziem, Cannon; Basset, Atencio; Fernandez, Mihailovic, Cabrel; Navarro
Keys To Three Points over Colorado
- Find Acosta early: We know Acosta is going to roam the midfield a good bit but Dallas has to be better at finding him the ball sooner in this game than they did a week ago in Houston. Getting him more touches on the ball early can help set up the counter attack at times for Anderson Julio, Bernard Kamungo or even Petar Musa.
- Don't let the press hurt you: The defense did okay last week in letting the Dynamo hold the bulk of the possession, but Colorado will be different. They tend to be a bit more like Dallas in how they give up possession in return for defensive pressure up the field. The defensive group has to be smart on the ball and limit mistakes in the back in the build up play. The Rapids have just enough talent to burn you if you let them.
- Start stronger: As much as I commend Eric Quill for getting his team to rebound last week after halftime in Houston, I'd prefer to see them have a stronger start in this one and then make adjustments at halftime where needed instead. Dallas has a chance here to go on a nice run of games this early in the season, and the Rapids will be a bit more gassed after dealing with the CCC these last two weeks. Use that exhaustion, along with their injury situation to you advantage to put them on their back heels from the start.
1 Note: MLS has a new injury report deadline that doesn’t hit until the day before each game. I will put last week’s report in these scouting reports and update where I can ahead of the weekly release from the league.
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