Real Salt Lake v Colorado Rapids: 'It's 100 out of 100 to make the playoffs', says Armas

Chris Armas wants the Colorado Rapids to wrap up their playoff spot as soon as possible and knows how special it would be to get a win against rivals Real Salt Lake in MLS.

A win could move the eighth-placed Rapids closer to the automatic playoff spots, but they have a little extra motivation on Saturday, with the Rocky Mountain Cup at stake.

The club are taking the trophy seriously, with only a loss of two goals or more set to stop them from retaining it. And they come into this game having lost on just one of their last three outings.

Armas reiterated the importance of the Rapids reaching the playoffs and hopes they can upset their rivals on the road.

"It's a two-for-one. I mean, it's got all the reasons to win the game. The Rocky Mountain Cup is for our fans, so for us, it's one of the most important things," Armas said.

"Every time there's a trophy on the line, we want to be playing for that and put ourselves in that spot.

"You win that game, it puts you three points closer to the playoffs, gets us the Rocky Mountain Cup. It's 100 out of 100 important to make the playoffs; at the same time, lifting that trophy would be huge for our fans."

Real Salt Lake are three places behind the Rapids but are only three points adrift of them, and one point behind the ninth-placed San Jose Earthquakes.

Pablo Mastroeni's side are within touching distance of the playoffs, having beaten Austin FC 3-1 on the back of two consecutive 4-1 defeats to Los Angeles FC, and he has laid down the gauntlet to his side.

"It's really clear. We've got to win out, and it's a lot easier to prepare when you see the objective right before you," he said.

"We're in a good headspace, we're prepared physically, mentally and tactically, and now it's about enjoying the moment and putting our best foot forward to get the three points."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Real Salt Lake – Diego Luna

Diego Luna tallied his team-leading sixth regular-season assist of 2025 against Austin, marking his second straight season with more than five assists.

Another assist would make Luna the first RSL player to have consecutive seasons with seven or more assists since Albert Rusnak did so in 2017 and 2018.

Colorado Rapids – Darren Yapi

Darren Yapi has nine goal contributions (seven goals, two assists) in 2025, with two-thirds of those (four goals, two assists) coming in road matches.

The Rapids have one loss in the four road league matches in which Yapi has at least one goal or assist this season (W1 D2), while losing all nine when Yapi has played and not had a goal contribution.

MATCH PREDICTION: REAL SALT LAKE WIN

Real Salt Lake picked up their 11th win of the season on Saturday against Austin. RSL have won at least 12 games in each of the last eight non-shortened seasons, last winning fewer in 2015 (11).

Despite losing three of their last four meetings with the Rapids, they are the favourites to win on Saturday.

Colorado have not earned three straight wins in the fixture since doing so in RSL's inaugural season of 2005.

Colorado have conceded 34 goals on the road this season in league play, with only the LA Galaxy (36) and Sporting Kansas City (35) allowing more.

The Rapids have just one win (D3 L9) in their last 13 road games and have conceded multiple goals in 12 of those 13 matches.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Real Salt Lake – 49.1%

Draw – 25.6%

Colorado Rapids – 25.3%