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Sometimes on your way to winning a Cup a team goes through these odd paths. In Seattle's case they left points on the table in their road games against Vancouver and Portland. Those points dropped hurt the Sounders for both the Cascadia Cup and their chances at an MLS Cup. Now with a mere five games left in the regular season and two in the Cascadia Cup Seattle Sounders FC can use winning the rivalry to power a surge towards the Cup.
To do that Sigi's men will need to fix some of their recent defensive woes. A good way to do that is face a team that struggles to score. There will still be a challenge due to Mattocks, but that is already part of the plan. There are also threats from Camilo and Miller.
On offense the Sounders will be stronger because of the available players for selection. Having Mauro Rosales on one flank will help with crosses. Eddie Johnson in the middle provides many of the problems Mattocks does, except with a decade of pro experience. EJ and the King of Cascadia get up for these matches. Those two on their own score nearly as much as the other two teams do in the trivalry. Feeding the King and the Duke is Seattle's offensive key to ruling the Kingdom of Cascadia for another year.
The broadcast is on NBC Sports Network and 97.3 FM at 6PM Pacific.
Pre Match Build-up | Tickets for Home Games
Officials
Referee: Silviu Petrescu - MLS Career: 55 games; FC/gm: 27.5; Y/gm: 3.7; R: 8; pens: 7
AR1 (bench): Frank Anderson; AR2 (opposite): Jeff Hosking; 4th: Alejandro Mariscal
SUSPENDED: VAN: Dane Richards (caution accumulation; through Sept. 30)
WARNINGS: Suspended next Yellow: VAN: Darren Mattocks, Alain Rochat SEA: Osvaldo Alonso, Fredy Montero
Lineups
| Seattle | ||||
| Johnson | ||||
| Montero | ||||
| Evans | Rosales | |||
| Tiffert | ||||
| Gonzalez | Alonso | Johansson | ||
| Hurtado | Parke | |||
| Gspurning | ||||
| Bench: Weber, Burch, Scott, Zakuani, Martinez, Rose, Ochoa | ||||
| Vancouver | ||||
| Mattocks | Miller | |||
| Thorrington | Koffie | Robson | ||
| Harvey | Rochat | Lee | ||
| DeMerit | O'Brien | |||
| Knighton | ||||
| Bench: Cannon, Bonjour, Camilo, Davidson, Harris, Teibert, Watson | ||||
Team Statistics Matchups
| Team | Shots +/- | Run of Play | Dead Ball | Net Strike Rate | Net On Frame |
| Seattle | 0.9 | 11 | 3 | 3.2% | 3.2% |
| Caps | -2.3 | -4 | -3 | -0.6% | -2.2% |
Tactical Keys
- Pressure Defense In Central Third
- Backline Communication
- Crossing Accuracy
- Holders Reign
Player Matchups
- Christian Tiffert v Barry Robson
- Jhon Kennedy Hurtado v Darren Mattocks
- Eddie Johnson v Brad Knighton
How We're Watching
Beverage: German Beers
Scarf: Nos Audietis 2012
Kit: Berliner T
Where I'm Watching: Berliner
Nos Audietis In Somniis | Nos Audietis In Altum