LA Galaxy vs Colorado Rapids Preview by Chris Brown.
Colorado Rapids head to Carson, California for a midweek battle against LA Galaxy at the StubHub Center.
These two sides already faced each other in the second week of the season. On that occasion a Marco Pappa goal, deep in stoppage time, gave Colorado a 1-0 victory over Bruce Arena’s side.
Both sides are less than full strength with several players missing due to injury or because of service with national teams.
LA and Colorado have already met once in 2016. A 1-0 Rapids victory on March 12th. (Photo Credit: Corbin Elliott)
The Galaxy offense, which may be the strongest in MLS, is without Robbie Keane and Gyasi Zardes who are both playing with their respected national teams. Giovanni Dos Santos is questionable after missing LA’s last match against Toronto FC on June 18th with a quad injury. Steven Gerrard is also questionable with a hamstring injury that forced the former Liverpool skipper to miss the Toronto match as well. Bruce Arena may also be without Ariel Lassiter who is recovering from a back injury but will certainly be without Robbie Rogers who underwent ankle surgery on Monday and is expected to miss the next six weeks.
In LA’s last match, a 1-0 loss to Toronto FC, Bruce Arena lined up Sebastian Lletget and Alan Gordon ahead of a midfield of Mike Magee, Jeff Larentowicz, Nigel De Jong and Baggio Husidic. Unless Gerrard or Dos Santos are healthy for the Wednesday match, the lineup should be similar.
For Colorado, Jermaine Jones and Shkelzen Gashi are both playing with their national teams, Jones for the USA and Gashi for Albania. Pablo Mastroeni will also be without defenders Sean St.Ledger and Bobby Burling, both players are recovering from knee procedures, and Jared Watts who is still recovering from a facial injury. Marc Burch, who was named in the MLS team of the week for his stellar game against Chicago, is also unavailable for selection due to a one game suspension earned from yellow card accumulation.
For the match against the Fire Pablo Mastroeni sent out Kevin Doyle in front of a midfield of Luis Solignac, Dillon Powers, Marlon Hairston, Michael Azira and Sam Cronin. Hairston playing on the right wing was a surprise as he’s normally used as a full back, so expect to see either Dominique Badji or Luis Solignac in that role as Marco Pappa should return to the starting eleven.
Both teams will be without important attacking players, like Gyasi Zardes due to injury and international duty (Photo Credit: Corbin Elliott)
The Rapids won their last match on June 18th, at home against Chicago Fire. A late Marco Pappa strike was enough for Colorado to claim a 2-1 win and to stay on top of the Western Conference standings as well as the Supporter’s Shield standings.
On paper this should be one of the most tantalizing match ups of the 2016 season featuring the high powered LA offense against the best defense in MLS. The reality is very different though as key absentees for each side limit the exciting potential for the match.
Without attackers like Keane, Zardes, Gerrard and Dos Santos it’s difficult to see where goals will come from for an LA side that is facing Colorado’s strong defense. It’s a great chance for players like Alan Gordon to show Bruce Arena they deserve more time on the pitch and LA will need veterans like Mike Magee to step up and provide some fire in attack.
For Colorado, the absence of Jermaine Jones and his excellent passing, as well as Shkelzen Gashi and his delivery from set pieces, will hurt the Rapid attack. It’s difficult to see where the offense will come from. Marco Pappa and Kevin Doyle still provide a threat for the Rapids, but Jones and Gashi provide a calmness on the ball and bring other players into the attack, without them in the side the Rapids haven’t been as fluid transitioning from defense to attack.
There may not be too many opportunities for either side in this match and both sides will need to be clinical with the chances that are created to claim three points.
Set pieces will provide important opportunities as both teams have depleted attacks. (Photo Credit: Corbin Elliott)
If De Jong and Larentowicz can disrupt Colorado’s midfield throughout the match, LA has a good chance of keeping their home unbeaten record intact.
For Colorado the key to the match will be moving the ball quickly through the midfield. Without Jones and Gashi in the side there are times when Colorado moves the ball around very slowly making the offense predictable. If the Rapids can keep the pace of the match up they’ll have a good chance of returning to Colorado with all three points.
These two sides will play each other once more in the 2016 regular season on August 13th. That clash will also take place at the StubHub Center in Carson.
LA Galaxy
Colorado Rapids
