The injuries of the week force more of a guess on who will be starting for the Seattle Sounders than typical. With Mauro Rosales certainly out and Adam Johansson a game-time decision there could be two new starters. There is also the question as to which of Leo Gonzalez and Marc Burch will start. For the Houston Dynamo they are missing Kofie Sarkodie for Olympic Qualifying, but two players just returned from time with Jamaica causing questions at their left back and center attacking mid. For the Orange this best guess is from Dynamo Theory, for the Rave Green a projection by Dave Clark with advice from Jeremiah Oshan.
Our thought is that with Brad Davis and Johansson's injury situation that it makes sense to have Zach Scott and his man marking ability play at right back. The nod at right mid goes to Christian Sivebaek, as we feel he provides more offensive punch through better interplay on short passes. At left back Burch's crosses intrigue us, and with a more defensive right side on the line a small nod towards offensive ability seems likely. This could all go wrong of course.
Statistics have switched over to the MLS 2012 season and will remain such for the rest of the year. There isn't a rich enough data source to include all competitive matches for every MLS side. The injury report is per the game notes released by the team, which matches those at MLSSoccer.com's Tuesday report. A reminder that neither rebound nor penalty goals are counted in "run of play" or "set peice" goals. The two formations are based off the average position maps, per sidereal's scouting report.