MLS: New York City vs. Colorado Rapids Preview, Odds, Prediction

New York City and Colorado Rapids meet at the Yankee Stadium tonight. This is an interconference clash between the East leaders and the team that chases the playoff spot in the West. NYC is topping the Eastern part of the MLS with the same number of points as the city rivals, the Red Bull and the Philadelphia Union, but they have far fewer games than these two opponents. On the other side, the Rapids are just two points away from Seattle Sounders, who are seventh in the West, in the last spot that leads to the postseason.

Preview

New York City (-200) has been without a loss for the previous 11 consecutive games, and during that run, they have posted nine wins and two draws across all competitions. At the moment, City won six straight contests, which is pretty impressive.

What is even more impressive is the fact that in those 11 events, they managed to post eight clean sheets, currently enjoying a streak of five. Their games aren’t efficient. Six of the past seven were with under 2.5 goals, and as you see, the majority were with only one side netting.

The big problem for City is that their head coach, Rony Deila left for Standard Liege recently. He was the main reason for all the good results and the one who put all the little pieces of the puzzle in their place. Nick Cushing will replace Deila, who is currently an interim manager.

Colorado Rapids (+500) play hot and cold, and they don’t have any consistency lately. In the past six games, this unit posted three losses and wins each, subsequently experiencing defeats and triumphs in the recent four.

Five of the previous seven games, they had ended with 2 or 3 goals, and five in the last eight were with only one side netting. There is an obvious difference between their performances at home and on the road, as they didn’t win on a road trip since late October 2021.

During this season, Colorado has one draw and five defeats in six MLS road trips, with four goals scored and 13 conceded. In the last five losses on the road, they would allow two or more goals on four occasions.

Latest News

Anton Tinnerholm is out for the hosts due to an Achilles tendon injury.

Meanwhile, Oliver Larraz and Galvan Brian won’t be available for the guests.

Head to Head Games

Since they aren’t in the same conference, NYC and Rapids haven’t met so often. The last time these two sides played was in 2019, in Colorado, and the boys from New York posted a win, 2-1. Since 2015 the Rapids have only one triumph, two games ended with a draw, and NY won three times.

Prediction

Even though the home unit lost its head coach, they should be able to beat the Rapids in this one and continue their excellent streak of results. The guests from Colorado are simply way too bad at the moment, and their recent displays are the best proof of that claim. Our pick here would be a home team to win with the odds set at -200,

Pick: New York City wins -200