Going To Another Level

After our 3 wins in a week last week the Rapids have jumped up to 4th and been a trendy talk around the MLS talking head circuit.  This week we find out if Colorado deserves that interest.  Tomorrow night we're out on SoCal facing LAFC, one of the top teams in the league.  They've only lost twice in their last 14 games, but one of those two losses was on March 30th at the Dick.  Colorado's never been able to withdraw any points at the Bank, being outscored 14-2 in our 5 games out there (LAFC has had similar but not quite as severe, struggles when coming to Colorado) so this is a big hill to climb.  Appropriate on the night the Tour de France starts.  Kickoff tomorrow is at 8:30 MT, and we're stuck with LA locak Max Bretos and former FSL player Brian Dunseth on the call so I'm not expecting a very Rapids-centric broadcast.

Player Availability:

OUT: D Moise Bombito (Team Canada), D Jackson Travis (stress fracture)

Glad to see no new names on the list.  Bombito could be back by the 4th of July if Canada loses tomorrow night, assuming he's coning back and not being sold.  I'm rooting for The Reds to advance though.

I think the only questions here are the wingers and the Larraz/Ronan choice.  On the former I think you reward Harris for his play against Montreal with another start, and Cabral is stronger than Fernandez.  On the latter, given LAFC's offence (they put 6 up against San Jose last week) I think you want the slightly more defensive Larraz over Ronan.  The other 8 positions pick themselves.

Prediction: 3-2 loss, goals by Navarro and Mihailovic.  Maybe the Rapids will surprise me and show that they really have improved but I can't quite get myself to them getting their first point on the road against this team.  I wouldn't be shocked by a hard-earned draw but I don't expect it.  A win would be once of the more impressive results we've seen in recent years.