The Colorado Rapids (1-1-1) are the next team to try and halt the undefeated Vancouver Whitecaps (2-0-2). The Whitecaps continued to surprise the league last week as they cruised to another win at home against a strong Houston Dynamo team.
The Rapids have scored 5 goals this season, all of which have come from penalty kicks (one was scored from the rebound), while only leaking 4 goals to their opponents. Rapid defender Marvel Wynne received a red card in the 85th minute of their game against Sporting Kansas City last weekend. As a result, he will not be able to help his team against the high powered Whitecaps offense. The injury bug has bitten the Rapids. Goalkeeper Clint Irwin and defenders Chris Klute, Dillon Serna and Marc Burch all could miss the game versus Vancouver due to injuries. This is bad news for the Rapids as a full strength Colorado defense would already be hard pressed to shutout the Whitecaps in their home stadium.
Vancouver’s defense have only let in 3 goals over 4 matches but they will have to be on their toes as Rapid attacking midfielder Vicente Sanchez will be a threat all game. Sanchez has 4 goals this season but all have come from the spot. The Whitecaps defense play a very high line at BC Place and if they continue this game plan this should go a long way to reducing the chance of conceding a penalty kick.
It will be interesting to see what formation Carl Robinson chooses. He has favored the 4-2-3-1 this season, but last week he switched to a 4-4-2 with a ‘diamond’ midfield to fit Mattocks, Miller and Morales into their favored positions. Morales ran the show last week against Houston as he was responsible for some truly spectacular cross-field passes. The Whitecaps connected 78 of 101 passes in the final third (stat courtesy of Brenton Walters). Reo-Coker has recovered from his concussion but Robinson will likely leave him out of the game day roster for another week. Reo-Coker’s absence is not expected to be a problem as Vancouver has significant mid-field depth.
(image courtesy of Gerry Kahrmann, PNG)
