Rapids vs Fire Preview

Rapids vs Fire Preview by Chris Brown

Chicago Fire travel to the Mile High City to take on the Western Conference leading Colorado Rapids.

The first MLS match back, after the international break, features two teams at very different ends of the Supporter’s Shield standings. Colorado currently sit in first place in the standings on 28 points. The Rapids are level on points with FC Dallas but have a greater goal differential and have played two games less than Dallas.

Marco Pappa makes his return after being sidelined for two months with a knee injury. (Photo Credit: Corbin Elliott)

The Fire are currently in last place in both the Eastern Conference and the Supporter’s Shield standings and have earned just 11 points from twelve matches in 2016.

These two teams met only once in 2015 with Colorado collecting three points on the road at Chicago. Colorado midfielder Dillon Serna scored the lone goal that evening after just 48 seconds of play.

Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni will be without two of his star players as both Jermaine Jones and Shkelzen Gashi are still on international duty. Jones will be on International Duty with the U.S. Men’s National Team through at least Tuesday June 21st as the U.S. advanced to the semi-final of the Copa America after beating Ecuador 2-1 on Thursday night. Gashi will remain on international duty with Albania through Sunday, June 19th. It’s unlikely Albania will advance from the group stage of EURO 2016 but they play their third and final group game against Romania on Sunday.

Sean St. Ledger (knee) and Bobby Burling (knee) are still out injured for the Rapids but Jared Watts should be available again after missing time with a facial injury picked up in training. Marco Pappa is also back in the lineup after missing nearly two months with an MCL sprain. Pappa featured in Colorado’s midweek U.S. Open Cup match against the Colorado Springs Switchbacks and will play his first MLS game since he picked up the injury on April 18th against New York Red Bulls.

Chicago Head Coach Veljko Paunovic is without John Goossens (knee), Michael Harrington (adductor strain), and Collin Fernandez (ankle) for the match against the Rapids.

Chicago hasn’t won a game on the road since July of 2014. It has been 30 road games in a row, an MLS record, since Chicago last won on the road (0-21-9) and going into the league leaders stadium to try and end that streak will be difficult.

Sean Johnson’s play in goal will have to be outstanding if Chicago wants to leave Colorado with points (Photo Credit: Don Mac Gregor)

Chicago will need to generate some offense, something they’ve lacked all season. The Fire have scored just ten goals in their 12 games this season while the Rapids have only allowed ten goals in 14 games in 2016. The Fire’s best bet to steal a goal might be from set pieces. If Chicago can get men in the box for crosses and try to draw a few corners they could put pressure on the Colorado goal.

Rapids keeper Zac MacMath has been in fine form lately but he’s much better at being a shot stopper and looks hesitant when deciding whether to come off his line during crossing situations. If Arturo Alvarez can provide service to players like Kennedy Igbonananike, who leads the team with 4 goals on the season, Chicago might be able to upset the Rapids.

For Colorado the key to the match will be generating an attack from a midfield absent of its two best offensive weapons. Without Jermaine Jones dictating the pace of passing Colorado has looked sluggish and has been easy for opposing defenses to read. Shkelzen Gashi has provided width, pace and excellent final balls for the Rapids this season and the absence of his curling free kicks has taking some of the bite out of Colorado. Players like Dillon Powers and Dominique Badji have tried to fill the roles Jones and Gashi normally play, but they’ve struggled to replicate the form of the international players.

Marco Pappa will have freedom to roam and will be the key attacking figure for the Rapids. (Photo Credit: Corbin Elliott)

Look for Marco Pappa to be given a lot of freedom to roam around the field and to try and create goal scoring opportunities. Pappa likes to take players on and try to dribble through traffic at times but is at his best when he uses his excellent vision and touch to get the ball in behind opposing defenses.

This may not be the most exciting game of the season, especially if Colorado goes up early. If the Rapids do score early they will most likely look to manage the game and play extremely safe. If Pablo’s men can take three points from this match by grinding out a victory and waiting for Jermaine Jones, Tim Howard and Shkelzen Gashi to return to the team over the next few weeks, it’ll be job well done for the Rapids.