Rapids Head To Houston Looking To Get Their Stolen Point Back

If you remember Houston's trip to the Dick earlier this season the game ended 1-0 on a last minute goal by Houston.  A goal that never should have counted if the scabs weren't still officiating.  Maxso was clocked in the face in Houston's box by a Houston attacker's elbow that broke his nose and sent him to the turn bleeding from a head wound.  A bright-line "stop the game" moment for a ref.  Instead the ref allowed the game to play on and Houston eventually stole the ball and scored while we were playing down a man.  I've heard it from good sources that PRO/MLS privately owned up to the mistake in the following days, but that doesn't give us our missing point back.  So tomorrow night we need to go get it.  Kickoff in Houston is at 6:30pm.

Player Availability:

OUT: D Wayne Frederick (hip), M Kimani Stewart-Baynes (groin)

No changes from this weekend for us.  One big absence for Houston is head coach Ben Olsen, who's suspended for this game due to yellow cards.

Its nice when Armas' consistency allows me to use the same lineup graphic in back-to-back games.  Two weeks ago when we had 3 games in a week Armas showed that his strategy was to win the game in front of him and worry about the short rest after.  Because of that I expect him to roll out essentially the same lineup.  Could be Fernandez, could be Harris, but the other 10 I feel fairly confident on.

Prediction: 1-1 draw, goal by Navarro.  Houston has a much better defense but a much worse offense than we do (and that seems weird to type) and I think its more likely on the road and short rest we play to their typical low-scoring game (2 gpg combined average) than our high-scoring ones (3.53 gpg combined).  Houston was the only team to shut us out so far this season, but I think now that Navarro has heated up we can get one.