Seattle Sounders vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 2018 MLS Match Preview

Dylan Butler

Seattle Sounders FC vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC
2018 MLS Regular Season — Week 21
CenturyLink Field — Seattle
July 21 - 4 pm ET
WATCH: TSN 1, ESPN+

After a win and two draws in three consecutive away games, including a pragmatic 1-1 draw against Atlanta United on Sunday, the Seattle Sounders return home to take on a Vancouver Whitecaps FC side that has one win in their last four games in a Cascadia Cup clash.

The Whitecaps, meanwhile, will look to put behind them a 1-0 loss to the Montreal Impact in the opening leg of the Canadian Championship semifinals on Wednesday night at Stade Saputo.

Seattle Sounders

Considering the opponent, and the fact that they were down to 10 men when Jordan McCrary was sent off for his second bookable offense in the 63rd minute, the Sounders (4-9-5) will gladly take a point from Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Nicolas Lodeiro put the visitors in front with a penalty kick in the dying moments of the first half before Josef Martinez leveled for Atlanta with his league-leading 19th goal of the season three minutes after halftime.

After competing in the World Cup, Swedish midfielder Gustav Svensson returned to the Sounders and played the final 17 minutes off the bench and Peruvian striker Raul Ruidiaz was on the substitute’s bench, but didn’t make his debut.

“I read some of the stuff and everybody wanted to see Ruidiaz out on the field and it would have put more of a twinkle in my eye if he would have come on and scored a goal against Atlanta, but obviously the game didn’t dictate that,” Brian Schmetzer said. “We needed to make the substitutions that we did and the fans will see him this weekend.”

Suspended: D - Jordan McCrary
Suspended after next caution: M - Osvaldo Alonso, D - Jordy Delem
International duty: None
Injury Report: OUT: F - Jordan Morris (torn ACL), M - Handwalla Bwana (right midfoot sprain); QUESTIONABLE: D - Roman Torres (left ankle sprain), F - Clint Dempsey (groin tightness)

Projected Starting XI
(4-2-3-1, right to left)
GK: Stefan Frei — Kelvin Leerdam, Kim Kee-Hee, Chad Marshall, Nouhou Tolo — Gustav Svensson, Cristian Roldan — Harry Shipp, Nicolas Lodeiro, Victor Rodriguez, Will Bruin

Vancouver Whitecaps FC

Suffering back-to-back losses is no way to go into a pivotal Cascadia clash, but that’s just what Vancouver (7-8-5) will do after losing to the Montreal Impact, 1-0, in the first leg of the Canadian Championship semifinals Wednesday night at Stade Saputo.

Cristian Techera hit the post in the 25th minute, just after Anthony Jackson-Hamel did the same for the hosts. Jackson-Hamel also put a shot off the crossbar four minutes after Alejandro Silva scored the game’s lone goal in the 58th minute. In his first match in more than two months, Stefan Marinovic made three saves.

“We were disappointed we didn’t get an away goal,” Carl Robinson said. “We went after it, we thought there were chances, we made wrong decisions, we made wrong key passes in and around the box. And that’s the difference, not just in this tournament, but in the league, is if you have quality in the final third that can open up defenses and take chances, it gives you a better chance of winning games. We didn’t have that today and they did on that one shot. Disappointing, but the tie is firmly in the balance.”

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: None
International duty: None
Injury Report: QUESTIONABLE: D - Kendall Waston (left groin strain)

Projected Starting XI
(4-4-2, right to left)
GK: Brian Rowe — Sean Franklin, Jose Aja, Doneil Henry, Marcel de Jong — Jordon Mutch, Felipe, Efrain Juarez, Alphonso Davies — Kei Kamara, Yordy Reyna

All-Time Series

Overall: Seattle Sounders FC 8 wins, 29 goals … Vancouver Whitecaps FC 7 wins, 26 goals … 5 draws
At Seattle: Sounders FC 4 wins, 13 goals … Whitecaps FC 4 wins, 14 goals … 1 draw
Last meeting at Seattle: Seattle Sounders FC 3, Vancouver Whitecaps FC 0 (Sept. 27, 2017)