Sounders at Earthquakes - Oba out and another new lineup

First the good news. Osvaldo Alonso will be back in the starting lineup. He missed six weeks with various injuries but is set to return. That's something that everyone in Seattle Sounders land wants. But the final prematch injury report from Sigi Schmid is not as positive outside of that news.

"Oba still hasn't recovered from the kick he took in the calf in the Vancouver game," Schmid told reporters Friday. "Shalrie's calf is acting up again so we'll see. Ozzie's fine, came through training fine. Neagle's fine. Yedlin's fine."

And so another new lineup will be used. If it happens it will be the 22nd lineup in 22 competitive matches. That lack of continuity is not by choice. Injuries and call-ups have forced Sigi's selection quite often.

A guess at what Saturday will show based on that data is;

That's asymmetrical, has two forwards that can score in the league and frees Alonso to be more box-to-box than destroyer. He will win balls higher on the pitch.

It also lacks the leading scorer on the club.