San Jose Earthquakes will look to put an end to a run of eight Major League Soccer games without a win on Sunday, when they travel to take on Colorado Rapids.
A poor run of form has seen Matias Almeyda's side drop to 11th place in the Western Conference, while their hosts occupy fourth spot, and will aim to further cement their spot in the playoff places.
Match preview
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Colorado Rapids have consistently looked strong throughout the campaign so far, since they collected just one point from their opening two MLS matches.
Consecutive wins over Vancouver Whitecaps, Minnesota United and Houston Dynamo saw Robin Fraser's men quickly climb the table, and they would bounce back from a setback, comfortably defeating FC Dallas 3-0 and FC Cincinnati 2-0 after Los Angeles FC handed Colorado their second loss of the season in a 2-1 win thanks to a Diego Rossi brace.
Fraser's men would then square off against the Western Conference's two strongest sides, firstly falling to a 3-1 defeat at the hands of second-placed Sporting Kansas City before Michael Barrios equalised against league leaders Seattle Sounders to earn a commendable point in a 1-1 draw.
They then made a return to winning ways last time out, as Braian Galvan and Andre Shinyashiki netted goals to see them defeat Minnesota United 2-0, sealing their sixth league victory of the season from 11 matches.
The Rapids will now look to build on that to record back-to-back wins, with a victory potentially seeing them go one point behind third-placed Los Angeles Galaxy and three points behind second-placed Sporting Kansas City while keeping a game in hand on both sides.
They take on a San Jose side who will aim to break a poor run of form in league action, currently occupying 11th spot.
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Sunday's visitors enjoyed a strong start to the season, collecting nine points from their opening four games as they defeated FC Dallas, DC United and Real Salt Lake.
They have not been able to continue that form, though, having failed to win since that victory over Real Salt Lake at the beginning of May.
The eight games since have produced just two points for Matias Almeyda's side, as they have conceded 17 goals while scoring a disappointing tally of four at the other end.
Recent defeats to Orlando City and LA Galaxy make that record look worse, as a Nani goal and braces from Benji Michel and Daryl Dike condemned San Jose to a 5-0 defeat.
They would then suffer a 3-1 home defeat to LA Galaxy, as Javier Hernandez hit a brace and Florian Jungwirth scored an own goal before Cade Cowell netted a consolation goal.
Almeyda's men did earn what could be a very important point last time out, as Benji Kikanovic netted a late equaliser after Brent Kallman and Ramon Abila had put their opponents ahead following Cowell's early opener.
They will now desperately go in search of a first win in nine games on Sunday, as the Rapids prepare for a charge up the table.
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Team News
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Colorado Rapids come into the game without talented defender Sam Vines, who is away on international duty with the USA.
He is joined in the squad by forward Jonathan Lewis, with Diego Rubio potentially leading the line in his absence.
Andre Shinyashiki will also hope for a starting spot in the front line, having come off the bench to score an important second goal in their recent win over Minnesota United.
San Jose will be missing midfielder Jackson Yueill, who is also away with the USA national team at the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
They also have several injury concerns to deal with, as Luciano Abecasis, Matt Bersano and Carlos Fierro are all expected to remain on the sidelines.
Cade Cowell will lead the line after scoring last time out, while Benji Kikanovic will also feel that his crucial goal off the bench in that game is enough to earn him a starting spot.
Colorado Rapids possible starting lineup:
Yarbrough; Rosenberry, Abubakar, Wilson, Trusty, Galvan; Barrios, Acosta, Mezquida; Rubio, Shinyashiki
San Jose Earthquakes possible starting lineup:
Marcinkowski; Judson, Nathan, Alanis, Beason; Lopez, Remedi, Yueill; Espinoza, Cowell, Sanilas
We say: Colorado Rapids 2-0 San Jose Earthquakes
Given the contrasting form of the two sides, we only see this encounter going the way of Colorado Rapids on Sunday.
San Jose find themselves in a slump, and the hosts could take advantage of that to pick up another much-needed win in their hunt for a playoff place.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Colorado Rapids win with a probability of 57.23%. A draw had a probability of 21.9% and a win for San Jose Earthquakes had a probability of 20.89%.
The most likely scoreline for a Colorado Rapids win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.91%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (9.37%) and 2-0 (9.1%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.2%), while for a San Jose Earthquakes win it was 1-2 (5.56%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 10.2% likelihood.
