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With the Western Conference playoff picture still unsettled headed into MLS Decision Day, LAFC looks to climb one spot in the standings and seize the West’s second seed during its visit to the Colorado Rapids in both clubs’ final match of the 2025 regular season.
The Black & Gold enters Saturday’s match in third place in the West (17W-8L-8D, 59 points) and can move into second with a win over Colorado combined with a San Diego loss or draw. The Rapids (10th place, 11W-15L-7D, 40 points) could seize the ninth and final playoff spot with a win or draw combined with other Decision Day results.
LAFC head coach Steve Cherundolo, who will be coaching his final regular-season game for the Black & Gold, called the Rapids “a tough team to beat" when he spoke with the media on Thursday. "[The Rapids are] well organized, they're proactive, they're excellent in transition … the biggest part of our challenge in Colorado for our players is to stay connected, stay disciplined, stick to our game plan. If we can, then I like our chances of winning there.”
THEY’RE BACK
International stars Denis Bouanga, Son Heung-Min, Mathieu Choinière, and Nathan Ordaz are expected to be available for LAFC after competing for their national teams last week ahead of the FIFA World Cup 26.
Before they stepped away to compete for Gabon and South Korea, respectively, Bouanga and Son had scored 18 straight goals for LAFC – an MLS record. Bouanga currently stands in second place in the MLS Golden Boot race, two goals behind Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi, with one match remaining for each player. (Miami plays at Nashville on Saturday.)
“A dynamic duo that is currently operating at maximum output,” according to the New York Times, Bouanga and Son have become appointment viewing since the Korean forward’s arrival from the English Premier League in early August. The Black & Gold has compiled a 7W-2L-2D record since Son’s LAFC debut on August 9. LAFC is 6W-1L-2D in matches Son and Bouanga have appeared in during that span.
Ordaz, who signed a contract extension this week, called having those two players at this point of the season “like having two aces.”
Added Cherundolo: “You can't replace DPs [Designated Players] in this league in quality, and those two players are extremely important for us.”
SCOUTING COLORADO
Led by Chris Armas (Cherundolo’s former teammate on the U.S. Men’s National Team), the Rapids have lost four of their last six matches (1W-4L-1D) and need a win and some help from other Western Conference results in order to gain a place in next week’s Wild Card match between the eighth- and ninth-place teams.
The Rapids’ most recent outing was a 1-0 road loss to Real Salt Lake in which Colorado held an edge in total shots (17 to 11) and expected goals (2.5 to 0.6) but fell short on the scoreboard.
The Rapids have scored 42 goals this season and conceded 54. Forward Rafael Navarro leads the club in goals (12) and assists (five).
The last time these two clubs met, on July 9, LAFC won at home 3-0 behind goals from Bouanga, Ordaz, and Javairô Dilrosun (a short-term loanee who has since returned to Club América). The Rapids played a man down for the final 84 minutes of that match after an early red card was shown to defender Jackson Travis.
In August the Rapids revamped their attacking midfield, trading DP playmaker Djordje Mihailovic to Toronto and signing 22-year-old U.S. Men’s National Team member Paxten Aaronson from Germany’s Eintracht Frankfurt. Aaronson has started and played all 90 minutes in each of Colorado’s last five matches.
Twenty-year-old forward Darren Yapi ranks second on the club with seven goals in 28 appearances (16 starts). Yapi was named to the MLS 22 Under 22 list earlier this month, along with LAFC attackers Ordaz and David Martínez.
RAPIDS CAN WIN IF
Their home support shows up on Fan Appreciation night. The Rapids are 8W-5L-3D at home this season due to one of the league’s more robust atmospheres. Armas wants his squad to mirror that intensity. “We’re not playing it safe on Saturday night,” Armas said this week. “We’re not gonna play not to make mistakes. We’re going to go after them. It’s the only way you can do it against LAFC. We want to give our fans something to be proud of once again, which is a trip to the playoffs.”
LAFC CAN WIN IF
It sustains its road form and defensive discipline through the season’s final minute. LAFC has earned 24 of its 59 total points away from home this year and grinded out an MLS-best 11-game road unbeaten streak prior to last week’s 1-0 loss in Austin.
Defensively, LAFC has the lowest expected goals allowed (33.0 xGA) in all of Major League Soccer, according to Opta—which means that no club gives up fewer quality scoring chances. “Defending and minimizing the attack of the opponent is half the battle,” Cherundolo said. “You still need to finish your chances and create chances … but our defensive effort over the past seven games has been phenomenal, and we will not let up.”
