The Seattle Sounders are taking on the Colorado Rapids on Tuesday, July 4th, in their first meeting since last year’s Western Conference Championship. Here is everything you need to know about the match:
WHEN AND WHERE: Kickoff is at 6 p.m. PT at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colo.
WHERE TO WATCH: The game will be televised on Q13 FOX.
WHERE TO LISTEN: The game will air on KIRO Radio 97.3 FM and in Spanish on El Rey 1360 AM.
2017 RECORDS AND STANDINGS: Sounders: 5-7-6 (21 points, 8th place West), Rapids: 5-10-1 (16 points, 11th place West).
ALL-TIME HISTORY: The Sounders are 13-5-2 all time against the Rapids in the regular season, including a 5-3-1 mark in Colorado.
RECENT MEETINGS: These two teams meet in a rematch of the 2016 Western Conference Championship. The fourth-seeded Sounders won 2-1 at home in the first leg behind goals from Jordan Morris and Nicolas Lodeiro. Rapids head coach Pablo Mastroeni infamously said afterward that second-seeded Colorado would bring Seattle to altitude and “asphyxiate them in the 60th minute” of the second leg, but a Morris tally in the second half at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park booked Seattle’s first trip to the MLS Cup Final.
OPEN CUP LOSSES: The Sounders and Rapids each lost in the U.S. Open Cup Round of 16 this past week, falling to the San Jose Earthquakes and FC Dallas, respectively.
INJURY NIGHTMARE: Whereas the Sounders employed mostly a reserves lineup against San Jose, Colorado utilized several top starters against FC Dallas and saw three of them leave with injuries. Dillon Powers, Axel Sjoberg and Shkelzen Gashi all exited prematurely. Their statuses are uncertain.
QUICK TURNAROUND: Before the Rapids host the Sounders on Tuesday, Colorado welcomes the Houston Dynamo to DSG Park on Saturday, July 1st. With a plethora of injuries already and only a couple days between games, Mastroeni may have tough decisions to make when Seattle comes to town.
BADJI AND BOUJEE: The Rapids are led offensively by Dominique Badji, who has four goals and two assists this season. All four of his tallies have come at DSG Park.
DROP IN FORM: After rattling off three straight wins from May 27 to June 17, Colorado has now dropped three consecutive games in all competitions. The Rapids have the fewest points of any team in MLS.
INTERNATIONAL DUTY: The Sounders will be without several key contributors on Tuesday as Morris (USA), Cristian Roldan (USA), Oniel Fisher (Jamaica) and Jordy Delem (Martinique) are all away for the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup. The United States have a pre-tournament friendly on Saturday against Ghana in East Hartford, Conn., before opening the Gold Cup against Panama on July 8th.
ROLDAN’S 365: Roldan will miss his first MLS match in over a year on Tuesday. He had previously started all 43 games and was only substituted twice. He played 3,883 out of a possible 3,900 minutes in that stretch.
DEMPSEY DOES IT AGAIN: The Sounders return to MLS play on Tuesday on the heels of a dramatic road draw against the Portland Timbers last weekend. Clint Dempsey scored a 94th-minute equalizer to help 10-man Seattle escape with a point and is now tied for the team lead in goals (five) with Will Bruin.
