{"id":511818,"date":"2026-10-29T13:14:54","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T13:14:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/511818\/"},"modified":"2026-10-29T13:14:54","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T13:14:54","slug":"potential-playoff-clincher-rapids-vs-san-jose-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/511818\/","title":{"rendered":"Potential Playoff Clincher- Rapids vs San Jose Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">San Jose, CA\u2013 It is a midweek trip to California for the Colorado Rapids (12-6-13, 8th West) as they take on the San Jose Earthquakes (13-9-9, 4th West) for the third time this season. The Rapids have two home games against the Earthquakes: a 2-0 win in the US Open Cup quarterfinal and a 1-1 draw just weeks ago. This is the first time these two meet in San Jose, where the Earthquakes have hardly made it a fortress. San Jose has been one of the best teams on the road this season (7-5-4, tied for best in the West), but has a poor home record (6-4-5, 4th worst in the West). It is rare for a team to be better on the road than at home; if San Jose can figure it out at home, they could be very dangerous come playoff time. Let\u2019s look at the matchup.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When: Wednesday, October 28th @ 8:30 p.m. MST<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Where: PayPal Park<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">TV\/Streaming: Apple TV<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Much-Needed Win Against Top Team<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Rapids broke their six-game winless streak when the Best in the West Vancouver came to town. It wasn\u2019t flashy, and it fell far short of perfect. The lone goal was the best example: Morgan Whittaker bundled home a rebound off the crossbar from less than a yard out. The buildup to that goal also shows a good example of this game. Colorado built from the back, through Hansen, and found almost everyone on the field before Vancouver could touch the ball.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">A team goal in every sense of the word \ud83e\udd1d <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/viqmWimFxt\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/viqmWimFxt<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Colorado Rapids (@ColoradoRapids) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ColoradoRapids\/status\/2115217012775379249?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">October 27, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This felt like the best example of Matt Wells\u2019 ball that we had gotten all season. Colorado shared possession with Vancouver, which felt inevitable given both teams\u2019 styles, but Colorado squashed Vancouver\u2019s attack while staying dangerous themselves. It wasn\u2019t an all-out attack, but it didn\u2019t need to be. According to FotMob, Colorado put up 1.87 expected goals and held the best team in the West to a measly 0.36 expected goals. If you can replicate this stat line every game, you will win a whole bunch of games.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An underrated part of this team is the centerbacks\u2019 ability to physically dominate opposing strikers and take them out of the game. Brian White is one of the league\u2019s best strikers. He was a complete non-factor. White won only one of his seven duels, took no shots, and created only 0.02 xG in the 90 minutes. All without him being fouled even once. He had 22 touches all game. It\u2019s not great when your keeper has triple the touches as an attacker, as Vancouver did.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Colorado can now afford to look up as well as down in the standings. Seattle are one point ahead of Colorado in 7th place. That would help Colorado avoid the wild card round. Still, Real Salt Lake is three points behind Colorado in 10th, so the Rapids\u2019 playoff spot is not yet confirmed. The last three games are crucial.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lineup Prediction:<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hansen \/ Thompson, Williams, Holding, Navarro \/ Ojediran, Aaronson, Frederick \/ Whittaker, Abu Farkhi, Philip<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Colorado Rapids at San Jose availability report: <\/p>\n<p>Cannon, Maziz, Sadiq, and Steffen out. Reggie Cannon couldn\u2019t make it back in time. Otherwise as expected. <\/p>\n<p>Earthquakes have Tsakiris and Werner back. That\u2019s big. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/85rMR4Ni3D\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/85rMR4Ni3D<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Burgundy Wave (@BurgundyWave) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/BurgundyWave\/status\/2115203347603234886?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">October 27, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s the same four players as last week. Reggie Cannon couldn\u2019t make it in time. Youssef Maziz and Ibrahim Sadiq remain question marks as to whether they will see the field again this season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This lineup prediction is based on the strongest available lineup without the usual Wells wrinkle to keep the other team on their toes. We saw Whittaker as a striker against Vancouver. He wants to be very unpredictable, while still in a similar system and style of play. This unpredictability will likely lead to changes, depending on the opponent.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Also:<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">As a reminder, Darren Yapi and Josh Atencio are on yellow card warning watch for Colorado Rapids for tomorrow at San Jose.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Burgundy Wave (@BurgundyWave) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/BurgundyWave\/status\/2115238486068576499?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">October 28, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">San Jose Since We Last Saw Them<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">San Jose got a decent 1-1 result against the Rapids on October 10th, then replicated it twice before losing 3-0 to FC Dallas in Dallas. They were able to get a point against the now-Supporters\u2019 Shield winners, Nashville SC. They had a much more disappointing 1-1 draw against RSL, though they did score a last-minute equalizer, which felt a touch better. The 3-0 loss to Dallas is also a bit misleading, as Dallas scored all their goals after the 83rd minute. Dallas were by far the better team on the day, but San Jose were seven minutes plus stoppage time away from getting another impressive draw.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s now four winless for San Jose, starting with the 1-1 draw against the Rapids. San Jose\u2019s season can be described as a roller coaster. They started out with a historic nine wins in 10 games. Then went one win in 14. They\u2019ve been undefeated in their last nine, except for their last game. It\u2019s also a winless streak of 10. They seem to be on the downslope again, which could benefit the Rapids.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Colorado Rapids could clinch a spot in the top nine and therefore clinch a playoff spot with a win against San Jose, while RSL and Portland both lose\/draw. The Rapids will want to avoid the wild card if possible, but it would be nice to guarantee some postseason soccer in Colorado.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Prediction: Colorado are able to take advantage of San Jose\u2019s lackluster home form, but not to the fullest extent. It\u2019s another 1-1 draw for San Jose.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thank you for reading Burgundy Wave. Support us via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/BurgundyWave\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">our Patreon<\/a> starting at $5\/month. You can also make a one-time contribution via <a href=\"https:\/\/burgundywave.com\/about-burgundy-wave\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tip Jar.<\/a> You can email us at burgundywavemedia@gmail.com. We\u2019re always looking for new talent. Let us know if you\u2019re interested in covering Colorado Soccer.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"San Jose, CA\u2013 It is a midweek trip to California for the Colorado Rapids (12-6-13, 8th West) as&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":511819,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[134757,185252,88,90,89,196449],"class_list":["post-511818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-matt-wells","tag-morgan-whittaker","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news","tag-youssef-maziz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/511818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=511818"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/511818\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/511819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=511818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=511818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=511818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}