After a huge win against the newcomers Cincinnati, Seattle Sounders await Colorado Rapids at CenturyLink Field for their 2nd match of the 2019 MLS season, in hopes to continue with their impressive results.
Seattle Sounder were not too impressive in recent seasons, however, they managed to have the best possible start of this season with a 4:1 win against Cincinnati, which now puts them at the top spot in the league. Maybe we could say Seattle had an easy opening match when they faced the newcomers, but, I was impressed by the way they played, which of course can be seen in the final result. With 4 goals in one match, Seattle left a statement for all other MLS teams to see. They have a very potent attack, which is led by Lodeiro, Rodriguez, Ruidiaz and Morris who netted 2 goals in the opening match and was named MLS player of the week. I already mentioned, I was impressed by Seattle Sounders in their 1st match of the season, but let’s take a closer look at the mentioned match. Seattle Sounders completely dominated the said match with 24 goal attempts, 9 shots on goal and 63% ball possession, while Cincinnati only had 37% ball possession, 7 goal attempts and 3 shots on goal. Additionally, Seattle completed 660 passes, while Cincinnati only had 374 completed passes. All in all, a dominant performance and a well-deserved win for Sounders, who will hope their good performance translated into the next fixture.
Colorado Rapids come into this fixture after a dramatic 3:3 match against Portland Timbers. Not only was the match played in terrible winterlike conditions, but it also included a red card, missed penalty and an own goal.
The match started off with a goal from Colorado in the 16th minute, but their enthusiasm did not last long when their player Sojberg got sent off in the 27th minute. Portland were awarded a penalty, missed it, and scored off a rebound. With that, the match was levelled in the 29th minute and Colorado were left with only 10 players. Fast forward to 45’+1, Timber scored another goal, which put Colorado in a tough position, but that did not stop them from scoring a goal only 1 minute into the 2nd half, once again levelling the match. The chaos did not stop there. In the 66th minute, Wynne scored an own goal, which once again put Timbers into the lead 2:3. The result held on until the 90th minute, and Timbers were on the verge of celebrating the first win of 2019 MLS season, but the rookie Shinyashiki had other plans. He scored the goal in 90’+4, which brought Colorado a hard-earned point. Despite only grabbing a point, it was a good result for Colorado, who had to play with 10 players from the 27th minute, and scored an own goal.
Colorado Rapids will arrive in Seattle without Axel Sjoberg who received a red card against Portland, in addition to missing Opare, Price, Ford and Smith, who were all on the injury list last week and are not expected to be fit for tonight’s match. As for the home side, Seattle Sounder only have rookie Wingo listed as doubtful.
It’s hard to evaluate how good Colorado are after a chaotic match they had against Portland, however, there is one thing that was obvious. They have a leaky defence. Additionally, I was not too impressed by their attack either With 14 goal attempts, they only managed to produce 6 shots on goal and 3 goals against Portland. As for their away record, they were 2-4-11 on the road last season, furthermore, Seattle defeated them in all of the last 3 H2H matches at CenturyLink Field with an aggregate score of 9:1. If we take into consideration the obvious flaws of Colorado and a superb performance of Seattle Sounders in their opening match of the season, this match should be an easy one for Sounders, who come into this fixture with their morale higher than ever. I am not only confident Seattle will win this one, but I believe they will win it with style i.e. with more than one goal.
Prediction: Seattle Sounders -1.00 Asian Handicap
Odds: 1.85 Pinnacle
