photo by Ron Chenoy/USA Today Sports
By MATT STYPULKOSKI
Week 13 of the MLS season kicks off tonight with a handful of Western Conference heavyweights and the East’s current top dog partaking in three midweek matchups.
The Seattle Sounders and Colorado Rapids will get things started at 10 p.m. ET, followed by LA Galaxy-Real Salt Lake and Portland Timbers-D.C. United at 10:30.
The fixtures provide an interesting dilemma for the head coaches involved, as they’ll be forced to balance squad rotation – all six squads play again on the weekend – with the need to pick up points in the here and now.
Here is a look at each of tonight’s three contests:
SEATTLE SOUNDERS vs. COLORADO RAPIDS
These two teams enter the night at opposite ends of the table. The Sounders sit just one point off the Western Conference lead, while the Rapids are tied for last place.
When the team’s last met at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on April 18, the Sounders picked up a 3-1 win. Considering this match is at home, expectations will be the same – if not higher – for the Rave Green tonight.
But despite their position in the standings, the Rapids are not the easiest side to play against. The club is unbeaten in its last five matches and enters CenturyLink Field riding high after a 1-0 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps this weekend.
Meanwhile, the Sounders sputtered a bit in a goalless draw against Sporting Kansas City on Saturday. The Sounders do have history on their side, however, as the Rapids have lost all seven of their previous matches in Seattle.
PORTLAND TIMBERS vs. D.C. UNITED
The Portland Timbers may be one of MLS’s biggest clubs, but they currently sport the worst points per game average in the Western Conference. D.C. United, on the other hand, boasts the best such mark in the league.
Luckily for the struggling Timbers, D.C. United has not been in top form the past two weeks – a stoppage-time loss to the Philadelphia Union and draw against the nine-man New England Revolution have marred the club’s strong start.
The Timbers have also not lost to D.C. United since the clubs’ first-ever meeting back in May 2011. Since then, Portland has won two and drawn two in the series.
But in order to keep up that run, the Timbers will have to find a way to perform at Providence Park. The squad’s inability to produce victories in front of one of MLS’s best crowds has become an odd storyline for the Timbers, who have managed just one win in five home matches this season, following similar struggles in 2014.
LOS ANGELES GALAXY vs. REAL SALT LAKE
After years among the MLS elite, both the LA Galaxy and Real Salt Lake have had pedestrian starts to 2015. As a result, the two clubs are tied on 17 points and straddle the red line.
Though the odds of both clubs failing to make the playoffs are slim, neither can afford to continue their early-season form in the stacked Western Conference.
Considering that both sides picked up wins on the weekend, Wednesday night provides an opportunity to make it two in a row and begin the turnaround. But if history is any indication, it will be a toss up as to which club might manage that feat.
In 29 prior meetings, the Galaxy and RSL have each picked up 11 wins. In two games at the StubHub Center last season, both sides picked up a 1-0 victory.
But since that RSL win on March 8, 2014, the Galaxy have been remarkably strong at home. In fact, they haven’t lost a competitive match in Carson, California, since.
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