COMMERCE CITY — The Seattle Sounders’ $6 million man, Clint Dempsey, is on fire. But don’t tell that to Rapids rookie coach Pablo Mastroeni.

“There’s no player in this league that we prepare for,” Mastroeni said this week. “We prepare for teams and the type of tendencies that they bring, and we’ll look over that, but we don’t want to change for anyone.”

Mastroeni compared Dempsey, the U.S. men’s national team captain who has scored five goals over his past three matches and leads the league’s Golden Boot race, to San Jose’s Chris Wondolowski, who was held scoreless by the Rapids at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on Saturday.

Mastroeni said Dempsey “poses the same type of threat” as Wondolowski but could be neutralized if the Rapids can defend as a team.

It will be a challenge, however, to stop the Sounders’ high-flying offense, which has scored nine goals in those three matches, all on the road. During that time, designated players Dempsey and Obafemi Martins have started to click, finding each other in dangerous positions.

Plus, playing in front of a large home crowd at CenturyLink Field, the Sounders are likely to come out and attack, unlike San Jose, which parked the bus in Colorado, putting 10 or 11 players behind the ball at all times.

Rapids rookie midfielder Jared Watts, who started at holding midfield last week against San Jose, said defending against dynamic playmakers such as Dempsey and Martins will be difficult.

“I think the big thing is to not be isolated 1-v-1 but have some cover from your teammates, always kind of know or be aware of where (Dempsey and Martins) are at on the field because they’re the most dangerous players that they have,” Watts said. “They’re going to make things, they’re going to create things for Seattle, and that’s the biggest thing — just making sure we know where they’re at, trying to force them to play backwards when they do have the ball and then ultimately just try to not let them have the ball in the first place.”

The Rapids haven’t allowed a goal in more than 200 minutes, and Mastroeni said there’s nothing to be scared about heading into Seattle as long as the Rapids play their game.

“We want to be the team where people go, ‘We got to prepare for that team.’ We don’t want to look at other teams and say, ‘We’ve got to prepare for them,’ ” Mastroeni said.

Daniel Boniface: 303-954-1104, dboniface@denverpost.com or twitter.com/danielboniface