Behind Enemy Lines: Scouting Colorado Rapids 🔎

It has been several months since FC Dallas and the Colorado Rapids last squared off. Both teams have seen a lot of changes in the summer as they look to lock up a playoff spot.

Let’s dive into Colorado and how FC Dallas can extend its unbeaten run.

Key Player: Rafael Navarro

Navarro was a pain for FC Dallas in the previous meeting back in March where he scored two goals. He leads the Rapids this season with 12 goals.

Key Matchup: Paxten Aaronson vs Kaick

Like many out there, I didn't have Aaronson on my bingo card this year to return to MLS, let alone to Colorado. Kudos to the Rapids' brass for making the move after trading away Djordje Mihailovic to Toronto. Aaronson vs Kaick will be a classic battle that we may be able to see for years to come, too.

Availability Report1:

Suspended: none
Out: Josh Atencio (knee), Kimani Stewart-Baynes (ankle)
Questionable: none
On Loan: none
International duty: none

Quick Notes:

All time at Dallas: Colorado has a 6-19-10 record at Toyota Stadium in all-time regular season meetings. But, in recent years, the Rapids are unbeaten against Dallas in their last six matches.

Recent form: The Rapids have been a wild team to watch over the last month and a half. They’ve gone 3-3-0 in their last six matches. Before the Houston win last weekend, they had lost two straight.

Where they're at in the standings: The Rapids have played one more game than Dallas up to this point in the season. They currently sit in 8th place with 39 points.

Comparing the two clubs: Going into this weekend, both teams are pretty evenly matched on the various outputs on the season. Dallas does have the edge in the defensive side, which could come in handy again this weekend.

Potential Lineup:

Chris Armes has been rolling out a 4-2-3-1 for most of this season and will likely do so again this weekend.

Steffen, Santos, Holding, Maxso, Cannon; Larraz, Ronan; Bassett, Aaronson, Harris, Navarro

Keys To Three Points over Colorado

1. Start fast again: How good was the start for FC Dallas last weekend against Austin? The first 10 minutes or so of the match not only saw a really nice play between Logan Farrington and Petar Musa to set up the first goal of the game, but it also showed what this team can do from the start when they actually press the other team. If the playoff dreams are going to be a reality for Eric Quill’s club, another hot start needs to happen this weekend.
2. Keep moving forward: One of the things we saw in last week’s win was how the build up play was actually good from the club. Quill talked about how he doesn’t want his players to constantly play the back pass out of safely and go forward more. This is the kind of game to continue building off of that mentality and force the Rapids to be on their heels.
3. Limit the chances defensively: One thing that has gone well lately for the defensive side of things for Dallas has been how good the group has played collectively and how well the group has limited quality chances on goal. With guys like Navarro pacing around the penalty area, they’ll need to find ways to dial in and limit the shots on goal.

1 Note: MLS has a injury report deadline that doesn’t hit until the day before each game. Our scouting reports will include last week's report and will be fully updated the day before with our injury report for FC Dallas.