Massive Predictions: Crew vs Colorado Rapids

For the second week in a row Columbus Crew SC is on the road, taking on the Colorado Rapids on Saturday night in Commerce City, Colorado. Both teams could certainly use a win in this one. The visitors have just one victory in their last eight contests while the Rapids just won their first game of 2019 last week, 1-0 over the LA Galaxy.

Can Columbus go on the road and turn things around against the worst team in Major League Soccer? Let’s see what our staff thinks.

Jay Homan

Saturday’s match against Colorado seems like the last real chance for the Crew to win before Gyasi Zardes, Wil Trapp and Zack Steffen head off to the national team for the Gold Cup. Unfortunately, I do not believe that will happen. The Crew has averaged 0.5 goals away from MAPFRE Stadium and as terrible as Colorado has been, they are still scoring nearly two goals every home match. Plus the Rapids are riding a high from their first win of the season under temporary manager Conor Casey. You may not be surprised by another Crew loss. Even when it comes from the last placed team in MLS.
Colorado Rapids 2 Columbus Crew SC 1

Mike Crosky

Prior to the Minnesota United match, my hope/expectation for the Crew’s two-game road trip was that they collect a minimum of four out of six points. With the loss in Minnesota, Columbus is on the verge of earning zero points. Now making it imperative that the Crew earn a win against one of the worst teams in the league to salvage something meaningful from this trip. Earning a draw is the absolute minimum. A loss would just be completely unacceptable. Given that the Crew have only tallied one multi-goal game over the last nine matches, my scoreline may be a fantasy. Let’s hope the Rapids are the cure to what ails the Black & Gold.
Columbus Crew SC 2 Colorado Rapids 1

Jimmy Lentz

Columbus Crew SC travels to Denver to play the one-win Colorado Rapids. One eye-opening statistic is that Colorado’s defense has conceded 30 goals in just 12 games (2.5 goals per game). With this in mind, coupled with the team’s scoring drought, the Crew needs to enter Dick’s Sporting Goods Park with the directive (and expectation) of scoring no fewer than two goals. If the Black & Gold don’t play down to their opponent, then Federico Higuain should take over the game and distribute throughout the final third for quality opportunities and even take a couple of shots himself. Unfortunately, I think Colorado’s Kei Kamara will put a wrench in his former club’s plan like Ethan Finlay did last weekend in Minnesota.
Columbus Crew SC 1 Colorado Rapids 1

Patrick Murphy

Saturday is the chance to start turning things around for the Crew. While the Rapids did get their first win of the season last week, also against the only team that Black & Gold have beaten for a while, this is still a struggling team with no coach or any real identity. As bad as the stats are for Columbus recently, this team continues to do enough to get points in games. The ball just has to find the back of the net.

I think it will on Saturday night. It would not surprise me if both Zack Steffen and Waylon Francis return in this game, giving the team stability it has lacked the last two contests. Francis may not be an attacking player by position, but he does provide the crosses the team lacked a week ago. Having Pedro Santos back will help offensively as well.

It may not be pretty, but the Crew find a way to grind out a road win against Colorado.
Columbus Crew SC 2 Colorado Rapids 0

Ralph Schudel

Two teams with something to prove meet in Commerce City on Saturday night. The Rapids haven’t enjoyed a great MLS campaign thus far and the Crew is showing it’s on the decline. So who gains the advantage?

I really like Colorado’s chances in this one. The Rapids have a nice blend of youth and experience and I think they are really close to flipping the switch.
Colorado Rapids 1 Columbus Crew SC 0

Tyler Fisher

In my opinion, it’s the battle of the two worst teams in the league. Colorado is at home, fresh off of getting their first win of the season, while Columbus still struggles to find their identity with this new squad that they’ve been rolling with for almost three weeks now. Granted, the Crew has a slight advantage over the Rapids. Pedro Santos is back with Columbus after spending time away, and that is also a key addition to the offense that needs to get going here soon. Columbus, in my opinion will just barely slide by in this one.
Columbus Crew SC 2 Colorado Rapids 1

Elmer Plasencia

The Rapids are one of the worst teams in MLS. They finally earned their first win against the LA Galaxy in their last match and have made some quality acquisitions that make them more stable on both sides of the ball. Regardless, this needs to be a match that Columbus goes into looking to get all three points no matter what. There isn’t a much better time to get the offense going again than against a team in the bottom two in goals conceded. I think Caleb Porter will have his squad ready to go and will have one of his star players back in Pedro Santos.
Columbus Crew SC 2 Colorado Rapids 1

Nick Hudak

The Crew finish its Western Conference stretch against Major League Soccer’s worst team. Something that Columbus fans can hold their heads on amidst a historically bad stretch is that Colorado is one of the weakest opponents they’ll see this season. Turmoil is surrounding the club with financial issues. Five points and 30 goals against is all the Rapids can hang their heads on so far. Even with a piling injury list, the Black & Gold will head into the Rocky Mountains and get three points.
Columbus Crew SC 2 Colorado Rapids 1

How do you see Saturday’s game between the Crew and the Rapids playing out? Let us know in the comment section below.