Everything or absolutely nothing could change for the Rapids in the next seven days.
The Rapids hold the fourth spot in Major League Soccer’s Western Conference and play their final three games in the upcoming week.
The Rapids (12-13-4, 40 points) could throw a monkey wrench into the playoff picture beginning tonight with a victory over expansion Chivas USA (4-21-5, 17 points) in Colorado’s regular-season home finale at 7 p.m. at Invesco Field at Mile High.
Colorado trails third-place FC Dallas by three points and the second-place Los Angeles Galaxy by five points with two games in hand. The Rapids travel to FC Dallas on Saturday for a pivotal game before wrapping up the regular season Oct. 12 at Real Salt Lake.
“Those teams are playing for their jobs, which makes it even harder to play against them … because everybody is committed,” defender Eric Denton said.
The Rapids have won three in a row and seven of 10 matches and are playing their best soccer since coach Fernando Clavijo took over in December.
“It’s obvious the confidence we have,” midfielder Alain Nkong said. “We can move the ball around without any problem. The team is looking good.”
Clavijo said Tuesday he will tinker with the lineup in the next week.
Backup goalie Byron Foss will start tonight to give Joe Cannon more time to recover from a lower abdominal injury, defender Ritchie Kotschau will sit and leading scorer Jeff Cunningham will again be on the bench.
Clavijo said Cunningham is not in his doghouse but said he wants to see more of newer players Jovan Kirovski and Dedi Ben-Dayan working with Jean Philippe Peguero, Terry Cooke and Nkong.
“I’ve had Jeff playing for me for most of the season and he’s done tremendously well,” Clavijo said. “So, do I need to see more of Jeff? No, I don’t.”
Mexican powers play
Mexican clubs Chivas Guadalajara and Cruz Azul will play an exhibition match immediately after tonight’s Rapids game. Chivas has won 10 national championships. Cruz Azul, third in the Mexican first division, played in the Copa Libertadores final in 2001.
