The Second Half Begins

After the international break we are back to MLS action to kick off the second half of the season.  Because of the Leagues Cup the second half is neatly split into the 9 games run in the next 36 days and the 8 games in the final 49 days of the season after the tournament.  6 of the next 9 are at home while the last 8 are split evenly home and away, so if we're going to make a move it needs to be in this next month+.  We start with Austin FC with old friends Gyasi Zardes and Diego Rubio at home tomorrow night.  This is the first of, again, 3 games in the next week so look for some heavy subs in the second half.  Kickoff is at 7:30.

Player Availability:

OUT: D Sam Vines (illness), M Kimani Stewart-Baynes (groin)

The Rapids availability information lists two internationals out for Austin, but it doesn't list Bombito away with Canada.  So I'm assuming he's back for this game before Canada kicks off against Argentina in the Copa America on Thursday.  But I won't be shocked if we see no sign of Moise and Abubakar starts on the back line.

I expect pretty much out standard lineup.  With Vines out I think Travis steps in, but we could see Rosenberry shift over and Anderson play right back.  I don't think we'll see a major shift in midfield, Armas will want to go with what was working before the break to see if we can regain some form or not.

Prediction: 2-1 win, goals by Navarro and Bassett.  I'm choosing to be optimistic going into the second half.  Austin is pretty similar to us, we're at home, and a couple of weeks off will hopefully have allowed us to fix our defensive issues.

(Now watch us lose 3-0)