Colorado come into the second leg needing to find a win to stand any chance of making it through to the conference final of the MLS Cup. They trail 1-0 from the first leg and know that anything less than a win won’t be good enough. With away goals counting they will also be wary of LA Galaxy snatching a goal, something that would be Colorado need to score three to qualify. St Ledger and Serna have been ruled out once again but Hairston should feature in the squad despite being a small doubt. He’ll likely take a place on the bench though, with head coach Mastroeni likely to try and keep the team the same as the first leg as he searches for the win that would take them to the conference final against Seattle Sounders or Dallas.
LA Galaxy enter the game with a one goal advantage following the first leg last weekend. Despite having this, they aren’t likely to sit back to protect the goal but will instead push forward as they look to find the away goal that would create a much harder proposition for the home side in their quest to find the win. Zardes has been ruled out with a broken foot and won’t feature but Gerrard is likely to take his place on the bench once again, despite still having a slight hamstring problem. Arena is unlikely to change his line up from the first leg, opting to keep the consistency in the team as he looks to take the club to the MLS Cup final once again. This will mean Keane won’t reclaim his place from Gordon.
Verdict & Prediction
Colorado come into the game 1-0 down from the first leg and know they have to beat their opponents to advance to the next round. However the players will know that their home form has been exceptional this season & they’ve yet to taste defeat at home in 2016, something that goes in their favour. Having a fully fit squad will also be a boost and the timely return of Jones CM3 from injury saw them look a lot more dynamic in attacking areas when he came on last weekend and he’ll look to have a similar impact this time around as Colorado try and reach the Western Conference final.
Prediction: Colorado Rapids -0.25 AH
Odds: 1.80 SBOBET
