The Colorado Rapids and the Seattle Sounders will be battling it out for a spot at the MLS Cup Finals when they meet for the 2nd leg of the Western Conference Finals at Colorado. The Sounders won at home last week by 1-2, and they will be looking to defend their lead on this one, while Colorado will be very patient ant careful. The match is played on Sunday, November 27th.
The Seattle Sounders should be feeling very lucky with the result of the previous match, but the 1-2 win is still a fragile result. Colorado can advance with a slim 0-1 win, so the Sounders should really be extra careful here. They must not make the mistake of defending too much, but they must also get out there and search for a goal. If Seattle manage to score a goal, it would take 3 goals from the Rapids in order to qualify. The Sounders actually had the 4th best road record in the Western Conference (4-9-4), and they also have a very good history when traveling to Colorado (5-3-1). Seattle have only failed to score in just 3 of their 21 road matches in all competitions and I believe that they will go out looking for a goal, and will not play full defense. Seattle showed great resolve in the first leg, as they managed to overturn the result in their favour, as the Rapids have taken the lead at the first half. Uruguayan midfielder Nicolas Lodeiro was the man of the hour once again, and I am pretty sure that the Sounders will rely on his individual outbursts of brilliance in this match.
On the other hand, the Rapids will be looking to repeat their good start to the match, as they managed to stun the Sounders and take the lead. However, they were unable to hold their ground, as the Sounders managed to completely overturn the result in their favor. Colorado will be looking to reach the MLS Cup Finals for the first time in six years, and if they do so it wiull be quite a feat for a team that finished at the bottom of the Western Conference last season. However, the Rapids have been truly impressive this season, as they are undefeated at home in 19 matches so far (12-0-7), having also kept 12 clean sheets. The club brought in USMNT legends Jermaine Jones and Tim Howard in order to make a good run, and both players have been stellar so far, especially Tim Howard. He was the hero in the previous round, when the Rapids managed to overcome the L.A. Galaxy at the penalty shoot-out, where Howard saved two shots. However, he was injured in his return to the USMNT, a season-ending injury that will surely affect the whole team. The Rapids finished the regular season with the best defense in the MLS with just 32 goals conceded in 34 matches.