Philadelphia at Colorado.
When:
7 p.m. Saturday
TV/radio:
ALT; 950 AM, 87.7 FM
Where:
Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City
Spotlight on Dillon Powers:
The 2013 MLS rookie of the year is the likely fill-in for U.S. international Jermaine Jones at central attacking midfield for the Rapids on Saturday. Powers started the first five games of the season as the Rapids’ No. 10, scoring one goal, but he was relegated to a bench role once Jones made his season debut. The longest-tenured player with the Rapids, Powers said he plans to make the most of his opportunity to play Saturday. “I’ve tried to keep (my form) as high as possible,” Powers said this week. “It’s tough when you’re not getting many minutes, but I try to stay fit and train hard.”
Notebook
Rapids:
Colorado (8-2-3, 27 points) enters its final game before the Copa America Centenario break riding an eight-game unbeaten streak (6-0-2). The Rapids are in first place in the Supporters’ Shield standings, have the most points per game in MLS (2.08), lead the Western Conference and are 6-0-0 at home. “They fear nobody,” coach Pablo Mastroeni said of his players after Colorado’s 1-0 win at Seattle last weekend. … The Rapids will be without three key attackers Saturday: Jones (U.S.) and winger Shkelzen Gashi (Albania) are on international duty; midfielder Marco Pappa has a bruised knee and has been ruled out. Republic of Ireland striker Kevin Doyle is available for the match. … Goalkeeper Zac MacMath, who appeared in more than 100 games for the Union from 2011-14, will be motivated to prove his former club made a mistake sending him to Colorado. He leads MLS this season with a 0.69 goals-against average, eight goalkeeper wins and five shutouts.
Union:
Philadelphia (5-3-4, 19 points) is atop a bunched Eastern Conference table entering the weekend, riding a six-game unbeaten run (2-0-4). But the Union will be playing its third game in nine days, including a midweek 2-2 draw with Orlando City SC at the Citrus Bowl on Wednesday. Goalkeeper Andre Blake made the first penalty-kick save of his MLS career in that match. … The Union is led by center forward C.J. Sapong, who has five goals and one assist in 12 games this season. … Philadelphia will play without designated player Maurice Edu (tibia) because of an injury.
Footnotes:
Colorado has three wins and four draws in eight matches all time against Philadelphia. … Rapids fullback Marc Burch would be suspended if he gets a yellow card Saturday.
