Toronto FC and Colorado Rapids both got the crap beat out of them by Mexican sides in midweek CCL action. Much like Rocky II (why do all the clips I want to use have embedding disabled? grrr), this one could be decided by which punch drunk fighter manages to just desperately scramble to their feet in time.
There's not really that much at stake for TFC here, when compared to Tuesday's CCL game with Tauro, but MLS games seem to be when the season ticket holders show up, so the upcoming renewals probably demand a strong side be put out.
For Colorado, this is their latest chance to get rid of the strange stat of never having won against TFC at Bmo Field, but more importantly it's about their playoff chances, they'll want the points to get as high a wild card standing as possible, with the hope of finding their way into the Eastern side of the playoffs. There's no Conor Casey, but Caleb Folan should be a handful, and they've got a choice of Macoumba Kandji, Omar Cummings and Sanna Nyassi to provide the speed alongside him, so whoever makes up TFC's defence today will definitely be up against it.
Get your pre game reading on with Dave Rowaan's preview here, the Colorado view from Burgundy Wave here, MLSSoccer's usual neutral and facty preview here, as well as all the usual pre game interviews and such like at Torontofc.ca.
I'll be at the game, but commenting here pre game and at half time and post game, and Dave will be commenting throughout the game, so join us here to chat.
Come On You Reds!