DC United vs Colorado Rapids Predictions

• DC United finished the 2019 season in 10th place overall, losing out in the playoffs to Toronto.
• Colorado Rapids ended the season 16th place, missing out on the playoffs by six points.
• DC United averaged 1.23 goals per game last season with 42 goals in 34 games.
• Colorado Rapids averaged 1.70 goals per game last year, ending as second highest scorers in the Western Conference.

All change at DC United for the new season

DC United had a reasonable season in 2019, qualifying for the playoffs and seeing some top quality football at times. Their squad looks very different this time around though with both Luciano Acosta and Wayne Rooney departing the club. The likes of Julian Gressel and Yamil Asad come into the side, making the squad look a bit more rounded as a result.

Much of DC United’s success this season will come down to Ola Kamara, who returned to MLS at the end of last season and scored three goals in five games and he’ll be tasked with scoring the goals to bring success to Audi Field this season. He’ll be joined in the final third by Edison Flores who joins the club for a little short of $5m and there are big expectations on the left wingers shoulders.

Ben Olsen leads DC United into a new season for the 10th time and he’ll be hoping that the side will be able to improve on last year which saw them end the league campaign unbeaten in five games. The team scored 42 times last season, the third lowest total in the Eastern Conference and they will need to find the goals to improve their position once more in 2020.

Quiet optimism builds in Colorado

Last season started woefully for The Rapids, failing to win in their opening nine games of the campaign and, rightfully, finding themselves rooted to the bottom of the Western Conference. Anthony Hudson swiftly lost his job as head coach and the side’s fortunes improved dramatically as Conor Casey, on an interim basis, and then Robin Fraser took the side on a much better run as they just missed out on the playoffs.

Fraser has brought in a mix of experienced MLS players and a couple of high quality foreign imports in the off season and there is a buzz around Younes Namli, who has joined on loan from Krasnodar in Russia and looked in great form in pre season. Three defenders with vast experience in the league also join the side as Fraser looks to shore up a defence that conceded 63 times last season.

Goals were certainly easy to find for Colorado Rapids last season and they ended the year as the second highest scorers in the Western Conference, scoring 1.7 goals per game on average. Kei Kamara and Diego Rubio scored 25 between them last season and both remain in the squad this season as they look to get the service they require to beat their total from last year.

The opening game of the 2020 MLS season arrives

Which side comes out on top in the opening game of the MLS season? Home advantage means a lot in MLS and this is a long trip for Colorado Rapids to start their campaign with which could play a part in how this game finishes. DC United ended last season on a high and have had a decent pre season campaign whilst Colorado Rapids have struggled a little in pre season after a really good end to their 2019 term.

We’re just going to side with DC United though as we think the natural finishing of Ola Kamara could be the difference between the teams. DC United are currently being offered at around evens and we think this price is tiny bit too big for the Washington side to pick up the win. As a result, we’re backing the home side to run out winners on the full time market.

We can’t see this being a resounding victory though and neither side will want to commit too much in their opening game in the campaign. We think DC United just about get over the line to pick up the win and we’re predicting that they emerge from this battle as 2-1 winners with Colorado perhaps feeling a little unfortunate to return home with nothing to show from a tight game.