Inoculated City

 

Went with that title as that's what we're all hoping we get to shortly.  Until then we've got a trip to the Bay Area to face the Earthquakes tomorrow night.  both teams are missing two players to international duties, though the Rapids missing players are a bit more core to their team.  Kickoff tomorrow is at 8pm and its actually on national TV, being the UniMas and TUDN Saturday night game.  So its in Spanish, but on National TV.  The English broadcast is available through Twitter, which means Fleming and Balboa get the night off (though I wouldn't be surprised to find out Balboa isn't available sue to working World Cup Qualifiers for Univision).  This is the first of two weeks in a row that the Rapids are on national (Spanish-language) TV, meaning we won't hear from our normal Rapids commentary team until the Portland game on Sept. 15th.

Injury Report:

OUT: M Younes Namli

Disciplinary Report:

ONE CAUTION FROM SUSPENSION: M Jack Price, F Diego Rubio

TWO CAUTIONS FROM SUSPENSION: D Danny Wilson, M Collen Warner

International Absences:

USA: M Kellyn Acosta (played 26 minutes against El Salvador)

Canada: Mark-Anthony Kaye (unused sub against Honduras)

With the news about Bassett this week I'm hoping that explains why he's been pressing recently and struggling.  Having that opportunity hanging over you while you make a decision is probably not easy.  I'm thinking Fraser sticks with him this week to see if he can settle in more.  That puts Mezquida in the space behind Rubio, though out of our front 4 the only one I'm sure will start is Barrios.  The back 4 is fairly obvious, though at some point Esteves is likely to spell Trusty, but I think that's more likely at home.

Prediction: 1-0 win,  goal by Barrios.  The Rapids are a better team than San Jose, on both offense and defense.  The big equalizer though is missing Acosta and Kaye making our midfield notably weaker.  Despite that I think the Rapids can get the edge on the Earthquakes with their depth and pull out 3 points, but I wouldn't be shocked by a draw.