Matt Wells has not been surprised by anything in his first few games as an MLS head coach, as he prepares to take the Colorado Rapids to Toronto FC.

Former Tottenham coach Wells took the reins in Colorado following the departure of Chris Armas, and he has overseen a positive start to their 2026 campaign.

The Rapids have nine points from five games so far this year and sit seventh in the Western Conference, the same position as Saturday's opponents occupy in the East.

Asked what had surprised him most about the league, Wells told reporters this week: "There've been no surprises. I'd done a lot of research and spoken to a lot of people before coming here. 

"We watched a hell of a lot of games, all the games we played as a club last season, so I felt we had a good grasp of the league. 

"We just have to keep working, keep improving our processes, and we're starting to look like a good team."

A key storyline ahead of Saturday's game centres on defender Kosi Thompson, who could make his Colorado debut at the home of his former club, having only left Toronto in a $600,000 deal last month.

Asked about the decision to let Thompson go, Toronto's general manager Jason Hernandez said he was happy to see the 23-year-old make a move that should net him more gametime.

"I really just went to Kosi and asked was he open to it, did he want to have a conversation, and it just kicked on from there," Hernandez said.

"At a moment in time where they have an injury in defence, and Kosi is likely to stand to compete for more minutes there, and at a moment in time where with a healthy group, he really wasn't in line to get a ton of opportunities here... it made sense in the end."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Toronto FC – Walker Zimmerman 

Zimmerman scored his 26th career MLS goal on March 21, as Toronto beat the Columbus Crew 2-1, and it was his 19th that came via a header. 

The only active MLS player with more headed goals in the regular season is Brian White (24).

Colorado Rapids – Paxten Aaronson

Aaronson, Rafael Navarro and Darren Yapi each have four or more goal contributions for Colorado this season. 

The only other team in MLS that has three such players this season is San Diego FC. Having scored twice in a 4-1 win over Sporting Kansas City last time out, can Aaronson continue his strong form?

MATCH PREDICTION: TORONTO FC WIN

The Rapids have shut out Toronto in each of their last two meetings, in September 2024 and September 2021. 

Neither team has been held scoreless in three consecutive matches across the 20 regular-season meetings between these clubs.

Colorado have tallied 11 goals through their first five matches of the season, the most they have ever scored through the first five games of a campaign (previously 10 in 1999).

But Toronto are favourites at BMO Field, where they have gone unbeaten in their last nine games. It is tied for the second-longest active home unbeaten streak in MLS (Seattle Sounders – 10), and the team's longest run at home since a 15-game stretch from October 2016 to September 2017.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Toronto FC – 42.2%

Colorado Rapids – 31.1%

Draw – 26.7%