Preview: Seattle Sounders vs. Colorado Rapids - prediction, team news, lineups

Two teams in the bottom half of the Major League Soccer Western Conference will compete on Sunday in an encounter that both Seattle Sounders and Colorado Rapids will be desperate to win.

The hosts head into the game without a victory in their previous three outings, while the visitors are undefeated across the same period of time.

Match preview

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Seattle's consistency has varied massively throughout the season as they have won eight times and lost 10, managing just two draws in amongst all of that.

A change in that is something that could help the club push themselves further up the league table, and a victory could see them move as high as sixth place if other results go their way.

Despite that, Brian Schmetzer's men are heading into this particular match on Sunday in poor form which they will want to put behind them as they have lost three consecutive matches.

A bigger problem for Seattle is the fact that they have not scored a single goal throughout those fixtures, with plenty of pressure being placed on the attacking players right now.

Their most recent outing saw them beaten 1-0 by Chicago Fire as Rafael Czichos scored in the first half, which proved to be enough to secure the result on the day.

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Colorado Rapids will also be hoping to move themselves up the league table this weekend, and a victory on Sunday would allow them to leapfrog Seattle in the Western Conference.

The visitors will be looking over their shoulders though as they sit just four points above the foot of the table, which is a concern for the club at the moment.

Even though they have struggled throughout the campaign generally, Rapids head into this match on the back of a trio of undefeated games.

Robin Fraser's team were able to follow up consecutive draws by defeating Los Angeles Galaxy 2-0 with goals from Diego Rubio and Gyasi Zardes separating the two teams.

Colorado will also take confidence from the fact they defeated Seattle when they met earlier on this season, with Jonathan Lewis scoring the only goal of the game.

Team News

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Raul Ruidiaz is someone that Seattle has been missing massively as of late, with the experienced forward being someone that has been missing for several games with injuries.

Xavier Arreaga was a fitness concern heading into the most recent match, but while the defender was able to feature he had to be substituted, bringing doubts to his availability.

Zardes has been a serious goal threat for the visitors throughout this season, and considering the fact he found the back of the net in their most recent match, he should retain his place in the team.

Colorado put together a great performance in their most recent outing they could end up using the same lineup to continue that momentum.

Seattle Sounders possible starting lineup:

Cleveland; Rowe, Gomez, Arreaga, Tolo; Rusnak, Leyva, Morris, Lodeiro, Roldan; Bruin

Colorado Rapids possible starting lineup:

Yarbrough; Rosenberry, Abubakar, Wilson, Esteves; Acosta, Barrios, Rubio, Priso, Lewis; Zardes

We say: Seattle Sounders 1-2 Colorado Rapids

Seattle Sounders might be higher in the league table, but they are not the favourites in this one due to their recent poor form, which is the opposite for the visitors.

Colorado Rapids have been performing well as of late both defensively and offensively, and that confidence could see them continue that form this weekend.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.