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The Colorado Rapids travel to the land of fantastic donuts and quality beer as they touch down in Quebec to play Montreal Impact this weekend. The Rapids are flying high right now after picking up their third win in a row and 4th out of 5 games. It is slowly starting to feel like a magical season in Commerce City while the Impact have had up and down season but are currently tops in the Eastern Conference.
The Records
The Rapids are currently 5-2-1 (16 points) and sit second in the Western Conference and second overall in the Supporters Shield Standings. The Impact are 4-3-1 (13 points) and top of the table in the Eastern Conference and sixth in the Supporter Shield Standings.
The Formations
The Rapids have run with the 4-2-3-1 formation with obvious success. I see no reason why they would change what is working so well. The Impact have run out the 4-2-3-1 every game except their 1-1 tie with New York City FC this week. In that match they played with a 4-3-3 on the miniature pitch at Yankee Stadium
Recent Results
10 October 2015: 0-1 Loss at Dick's Sporting Goods Park
24 May 2014: 4-1 win at Dick's Sporting Goods Park
29 June 2013: 4-3 win at Montreal Impact
26 May 2012: 3-2 win at Dick's Sporting Goods Park
The Basic Statistics
| Games Played | Win | Loss | Tie | Points | Goals For | Goals Against | Shots | Shots on Target | |
| Colorado Rapids | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 16 | 10 | 6 | 113 | 49 |
| Montreal Impact | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 87 | 32 |
Super Early Initial Thoughts
This match-up could be one of the more exciting ones this weekend. The Impact feature Didier Drogba and Ignacio Piatti and have an offense, that when clicking, it can be very dangerous. The Rapids appear to be a new team in the last month. After struggling to get things going, the Rapids are playing well and believe that they can defeat anyone.
The Impact play in a weaker Eastern Conference so it's hard to say how good they really are. Montreal has some dynamic players on their roster, but they don't seem to possess the ball that well and do not appear to generate many chances on frame. They have a shot on target percentage of 37% (compared to the Rapids 43%) and nearly 13% of all shots go in the goal. The Rapids get less than 9% of their total shots in the net, so the Impact do hold the edge in accuracy.
At the end of the day, you want to win at home and draw on the road, but this feels like a game the Rapids can win.