It has been a long time coming since FC Dallas and the Colorado Rapids last played one another in the regular season. The two sides played to a wild 3-3 draw back at the beginning of March and will now see a big battle for the playoff race this weekend at Toyota Stadium.
As we've been doing around here ahead of Matchday, we brought in an expert of the team FC Dallas is square off against this weekend. Joining us from the old SB Nation network is Matt Pollard of Burgundy Wave.
Injury report
Josh Atencio is working his way back from a knee injury is likely still out. That and the win last game are the biggest reasons I think Connor Ronan starts again. The other is Kimani Stewart-Baynes. His season is done due to an ankle injury while he was on loan in the USL.
Recent Form
Inconsistent to say the least. Amid the drama around Djordje Mihailovic's departure, the team won at Minnesota thanks to a Darren Yapi brace then ran circles around Atlanta at home. They followed that up with a loss to LA Galaxy's bench and a second half collapse against Sporting KC. They were much better this past weekend against Houston Dynamo, but that game almost ended 1-1. The team looks better with the new players. Paxten Aaronson has been a great fit tactically. Rob Holding was solid in defense last game. Rafael Santos has three assists in less than a month. If they do a better job finishing, they'll get results in these final four games and make playoffs for sure.
Projected Starting Lineup/Formation
4-2-3-1. Steffen-Cannon, Maxso, Holding, Santos-Ronan, Larraz-C. Harris, Aaronson, C. Bassett-Navarro
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Key players to watch out for
I'll focus on the new guys. Paxten Aaronson has been lively in his first couple of games with the club. Hyperactive in the press. He's been good in tight spaces with the ball as well. Very direct and positive in transition. He's good at "good fast, but don't rush" as Chris Armas would say. He likes be being a box-to-box 8 and a pressing 10, so Colorado's still figuring out where's the best place to play him given they also like Cole Bassett doing those same things. The other one would be Rafael Santos. Attacking fullback Colorado got from Orlando City for $125K GAM plus $127K GAM in incentives. He's already paid off. Really good going forward and staying wide. Crossing has been good. Just waiting for him to assist Rafael Navarro so they can celebrate a Rafa-Rafa goal.
What is new with Colorado since we last squared off?
The reverse fixture was the Rapids MLS home opener on March 1. A lot has changed in 6 months. The team tried out a bunch of formations and none of them really worked for long. Because of that, I'm not super confident in the 4-2-3-1 prediction. Djordje Mihailovic and Chido Awaziem asked to leave and did. Colorado then went and made a record signing in Paxten Aaronson while strengthening the winger position and defense. Oh, and they became the first ever team to be losing to Seattle Sounders on the road and not lose.
