Austin FC v Colorado Rapids: Armas keeping the faith

The Rapids remain winless in MLS after consecutive draws against St Louis and FC Dallas, while they narrowly exited the CONCACAF Champions Cup at the hands of Los Angeles FC.

But coach Armas talked up the standard of Colorado's opponents to this point and suggested there is more to come from his team, who go to Austin FC on Saturday.

"We're excited for the weekend ahead to test ourselves again," Armas said.

"We think in the games so far we've had really good opponents, and we believe when we put it all together we're going to be really hard to beat.

"We've enjoyed the training, working on some things, getting guys healthy, and we're excited."

Strength at amplitude #Rapids96 pic.twitter.com/3dVnMM3Cm1

— Colorado Rapids (@ColoradoRapids) March 2, 2025

Armas outlined why Austin will also "challenge" his players but reiterated his belief that they have the quality to cope.

"It's a terrific challenge for us," he said. "We experienced it last year, their crowd, the way the team plays for them, the way they get behind the team. I think it's an amazing situation there.

"Players have to embrace that challenge. They're a good team; they've shown so far they don't concede much, they're organised, they're hard to break down, they're dangerous in attack and have added a striker who's very, very good. They're very well coached, and I think it's a tough challenge.

"But when we're at our best, I think we'll show we can play with the league. Again, for us, it's always about the challenge."

Austin spent big fees on forwards Brandon Vazquez and Myrto Uzuni in the off-season but have so far played out low-scoring encounters, beating Sporting Kansas City 1-0 and losing to the Portland Timbers by the same scoreline.

Vazquez has so far been preferred to fellow new recruit Uzuni, but the pressure is on the United States international to deliver now in a competitive area of the pitch.

He hit 18 goals for FC Cincinnati in the 2022 season, and that sort of tally could be transformative to an Austin side who look strong at the back, facing the third-fewest shots in the league so far.

If Austin are still working out the identity of their leading marksman, there is no doubt about the Rapids' chief goal-getter. Navarro netted 15 goals last season and opened his account for the new campaign with a double against Dallas.

His 17 goals since the start of last season are six more than the next-best Colorado player, making him clearly the biggest threat to that Austin back-line.

Matches between these teams have tended to be tight, with each side winning once and drawing twice across their four previous meetings. They have each scored five goals across those matches, too.

Colorado have started the season with back-to-back draws after only two stalemates in their final 27 games of last season, but Austin are far more accustomed to such tense affairs.

Their past 10 matches have either been drawn or won by a single-goal margin either way.

Austin FC – 47.8%

Draw – 26.1%