History suggests the Colorado Rapids are going to take care of Sporting Kansas City on Sunday night at Children's Mercy Park. The Rapids have won five straight in this series, including sweeping away SKC last year and allowing just one goal in the process. It's a new year though, and Sporting has its sights set on bigger and better in the Western Conference.
At 7 p.m. ET, tune into FOX Sports 1 for live television coverage of this MLS match on Sunday, April 9, 2017, at Children's Mercy Park.
Odds Analysis
As of the publication of this article, the odds for this match are off the board. That said, Sporting always has a great home field advantage here at Children's Mercy Park, and a 1-1-0 mark through two matches at least shows that. Colorado has struggled away from home over the years, though it should be noted that last season, one of the team's four away triumphs did come in this very stadium.
Key Injuries
Diego Rubio's season is already over for Sporting after he tore his ACL several weeks back. Benny Feilhaber has a strained thigh that caused him to miss the match against Toronto FC last week. It's been a long week of prep for SKC, but the midfielder seems like he's at least one more match away from returning to the pitch.
The Rapids are playing without both Axel Sjoberg and Eric Miller in defense. Both are out with hamstring problems, and that's leaving Tim Howard uncovered quite a bit at the back. With John Berner down with a wrist injury, there's no doubt Howard is going to have to be a pillar with no one behind him with any legitimate experience at this level.
Recent Form
The good news for Sporting Kansas City is that it has won every match in which it has scored this year. The team has yet to be beaten in four matches. The only fixture in which it scored though, was against San Jose at home a couple weeks ago. That 2-1 result was a good one. The three scoreless draws that surround that? Not as much.
The Rapids are struggling at the moment. They suffered the indignation of drawing against Minnesota United last week in a 2-2 level finish at home, and that came on the heels of losing in New York to the Red Bulls. The Rapids had high hopes for this season after finishing second best in the West last year in the regular season, but things aren't exactly looking up. The club hasn't really put together 90 sound minutes yet, and this is surely going to be a challenge on the road against a team that has a score to settle.
Free Soccer Betting Pick
And said score should be settled on Sunday. Sporting has worked incredibly hard on the defensive end of the pitch this year, and it isn't a mistake that the team has three clean sheets in four tries.
Marlon Hairston has had a good start to the season up front for the Rapids, but he was also dinged up at the end of the match against the Loons and is a question mark for this game. If he isn't going to be able to be in the lineup, we have to wonder where Colorado's goals are going to be coming from.
Dom Dwyer hasn't had a single goal yet this season, and in fact, if Feilhaber is out of the lineup, there isn't a single man on the pitch for SKC who has yet to tally. That will change in a big way on Sunday night, as Sporting picks up its second win of the season and further sends Colorado into the depths in the West.
MLS Odds: Sporting Kansas City 2, Colorado 0
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