Colorado

Sporting KC visits struggling Rapids for heated battle

Published May. 27, 2017 3:02 a.m. ET

Tim Melia made five saves as Sporting KC played to a scoreless draw with D.C. United on Saturday.

Sporting Kansas City, atop the Western Conference, is in a familiar position. Meanwhile, the Colorado Rapids are in unfamiliar territory.

Sporting KC (6-3-4, 22 points) leads the West standings as it seeks an eighth straight run to the MLS playoffs. Colorado (2-8-1, 7 points), which finished second in the West last season, is currently last in the West as it prepares to host SKC in a match between heated rivals Saturday evening.

Sporting KC is three points clear of the Houston Dynamo, FC Dallas and the San Jose Earthquakes and four points ahead of the Portland Timbers in a tightly-packed West. Even the seventh-place Los Angeles Galaxy are just eight points behind Sporting KC.

Sporting's calling card is its defense, which has allowed the second-fewest goals in the league with nine through 13 matches. The .692 goals per match average is the best in MLS. Goalkeeper Tim Melia, who has seven clean sheets -- two more than any other keeper -- is fifth in saves with 41. He has faced just 120 shots this season, the least among keepers who have started every game.

"They're a good team and they've started the season well," Rapids forward Kevin Doyle said. "The last game was a livelier game. We'll go into it like we do every game, trying to win and play better."

Colorado has four fewer points than any other MLS club. Their biggest problem has been on the offensive end. The Rapids have scored just nine goals, tied for the fewest in MLS. While the road has been particularly tough (0-6-0), Dick's Sporting Goods Park has not been very friendly either. The Rapids are just 2-2-1 at home.

USMNT goalkeeper Tim Howard has played in just seven games for Colorado and has recorded just 17 saves with 28 shots on goal. Dominique Badji leads the Rapids with three goals, and he is one of three players (along with Kevin Doyle and Shkelzen Gashi) who have scored more than one goal this season.

But Sporting is not expecting anything but trouble in Commerce City.

"(It will be) a real battle," Sporting manager Peter Vermes said. "Last year they had our number. When we played at their place, we had some moments of lapse of concentration, which allowed them to tie the game or take the lead."

The Rapids are coming off a 3-0 win over the San Jose Earthquakes in their last match, which stopped a seven-match losing streak. Sporting KC, meanwhile, is smarting from a 2-0 loss at Vancouver.

In their first meeting this season, Sporting defeated Colorado 3-1 in a match that led to Howard's three-game suspension following a confrontation with a fan after the game.

Get more from Colorado Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

Colorado

Sporting KC