Two of the West’s top clubs will go at it on Saturday night, when the second-place Colorado Rapids host fifth-place Sporting Kansas City at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park (9 pm ET; MLS LIVE).
The MLS LIVE Game of the Week for Week 19, Saturday’s contest will be available on MLS LIVE throughout the US and Canada, excluding the Denver and Kansas City markets.
Here are the top-three reasons why Saturday’s match is a must-watch:
- HOWARD AIMS FOR FIRST WIN: He notched a shutout against Portland and a road draw at Vancouver to help Colorado extend their club-record unbeaten streak to 13 league games, but Tim Howard is still searching for his first win in a Rapids uniform. The USMNT goalkeeper will face a tough test in Sporting Kansas City, who were on a five-game unbeaten run prior to Wednesday’s weather-delayed 1-0 loss at the Chicago Fire.
- SKC LOOKS TO END THEIR RAPIDS RUT: Saturday’s match will be the third and final meeting of the 2016 regular season between Kansas City and Colorado. The Rapids have taken both of the previous two contests this year, extending their winning streak against SKC to four games with a dramatic 2-1 victory at Children’s Mercy Park on April 13 before notching a 1-0 win in Colorado on May 11. If the clubs’ respective home and away records are any indication, the Rapids could very well extend their streak against SKC to five on Saturday – Colorado are an unbeaten 7-0-2 at home his year, while SKC are just 2-5-3 on the road.
- BIG IMPLICATIONS IN WEST, SHIELD RACES: The Rapids still have the best points per game average in the league, but they were jumped in the overall Supporters’ Shield standings by FC Dallas earlier this month. A win on Saturday would pull them level on 37 points with FCD, while a loss could potentially see four teams – SKC included – climb within three points of Colorado. Any sort of road result would be valuable for fifth-place Sporting, who are only two points above the red line and just barely ahead of the seventh-place Portland Timbers in points per game.
