Colorado Rapids vs. New England Revolution
Dick's Sporting Goods Park - Commerce City, CO
Saturday, Mar. 4 - 6 pm ET
WATCH: Altitude, CSN-NE, MLS LIVE
Last season's surprise team and one of the most disappointing teams face off in Week 1 of the 2017 season. The Colorado Rapids shocked MLS in 2016 by nearly coming away with the Supporters' Shield and advancing all the way to the Western Conference Championship, before falling to the Seattle Sounders. Their historic defensive record should be tough to replicate, especially in Week 1 against a New England Revolution attack led by Juan Agudelo and Lee Nguyen. The Revs are hoping to start the 2017 season off right after missing the MLS Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2012.
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All-Time Series
- Head-to-Head: Colorado lead 19-15-9 (66-59 in goals)
- at Colorado (21 meetings): Colorado lead 13-4-4 (38-19 in goals)
Referees
Referee: Jose Carlos Rivero
Assistant Referees: Apolinar Mariscal (bench side), Brian Poeschel (far side)
Fourth Official: Younes Marrakchi
Colorado Rapids
The Rapids made few changes in the offseason, with the loss of Jermaine Jones proving to be the only major move. Tim Howard is likely to miss this game due to the injury he suffered playing with the US national team in November, but Zac MacMath proved more than capable during his time between the pipes last season.
- Suspended: None
- Int’l Duty: None
- Injury Report: John Berner (wrist injury), Tim Howard (right adductor injury), Dillon Serna (knee injury)
Projected starting XI (4-2-3-1): Zac MacMath — Eric Miller, Jared Watts, Axel Sjoberg, Marc Burch — Sam Cronin, Micheal Azira — Marlon Hairston, Dillon Powers, Dominique Badji — Kevin Doyle
Opta Fact: Colorado won a franchise record 11 home regular season games last year. The Rapids conceded only seven goals in home games last year, and have not conceded multiple goals in a regular season home game since October 4, 2015.
New England Revolution
The Revs struggled out of the gate last season, leading to the misfortune at the end of the year. They did find some magic over the last two months of the season, winning five of their last seven, partly due to a tactical switch to a 4-4-2 diamond formation. Jay Heaps will be putting that shift into full effect in 2017, hoping to spark Juan Agudelo, Lee Nguyen and Kei Kamara to All-Star seasons.
- Suspended: None
- Int’l Duty: None
- Injury Report: Zachary Herivaux (right ankle sprain)
Projected starting XI (4-4-2, diamond): Cody Cropper — Andrew Farrell, Antonio Mlinar Delamea, Benjamin Angoua, Chris Tierney — Xavier Kouassi, Kelyn Rowe, Scott Caldwell, Juan Agudelo — Lee Nguyen, Kei Kamara
Opta Fact: In the 825 minutes that Agudelo and Kamara played together for New England in the 2016 MLS regular season, the Revolution averaged 1.6 goals scored per 90 minutes played. In the 2,437 minutes that New England played without one or both players on the field, that number fell to 1.1 goals scored per 90 minutes.
