As the rematch of last year's Independence Day fixture, Sporting Kansas City will travel to Dick's Sporting Goods Park to face Colorado Rapids in an MLS match. Last weekend, Colorado Rapids drew 3-3 with New England Revolution, currently sitting eighth in the Western Conference, six points ahead of FC Dallas, while Sporting Kansas City drew 1-1 with Real Salt Lake, placing them 12th.

Last weekend's draw was a clear disappointment for Colorado Rapids, as they squandered a 3-0 lead against the Revolution, marking the fourth time this season they have dropped points while leading at the 45-minute mark. So far this season, they have a strong record of 4-1-1 when leading at halftime, but they have not won any matches when trailing at that point.

Under Chris Armas, the team has excelled throughout the year, consistently finding ways to win tight matches; of their seven league victories in 2025, five have been by a single-goal margin. The last 15 minutes of the first half is a key weakness for the Burgundy Boys, as they have conceded 11 out of 28 goals between the 31st minute and halftime this season.

In the past two months, they have been either defensively solid or offensively ineffective at home; in their three most recent home wins since May, they kept clean sheets, while in the previous three home losses, they failed to score. The Rapids have a 100% win rate at home against SKC on July 4th, winning all three prior encounters, including last year's 2-1 victory.

Sporting Kansas City achieved their fifth come-from-behind win in Saturday's match, the fifth in their last eight MLS games. Since replacing long-time manager Peter Vermes, Kerry Zavagnin has implemented a more aggressive tactic, with the team scoring 25 goals in 13 league matches since early April, tying for fourth in the MLS during that period. The team has scored multiple goals in 8 of their previous 14 official matches, compared to just once in the 13 before that. They often become more active in the final third around the 60th minute, with nearly half of their regular-season goals occurring after that time.

Sporting Kansas City has earned points in three of their previous four regular-season away matches, and if they lose on Friday, they will tie Zavagnin's record for most consecutive away losses during his tenure. SKC has lost two of their last three encounters with the Rapids, but they won the previous meeting at Children's Mercy Park last year.

Predicted starting lineup for Colorado Rapids:

Hansen; Cannon, Maxso, Avizim, Murphy; C. Harris, Laras, Atencio, Kou-DiPietro; Cabral Navarro

Predicted starting lineup for Sporting Kansas City:

Pulskamp; Shelton, Miller, James, Ndabah; Garcia, Bartlett, Rodriguez; Tommy, Joveli, Salute