At 2:00 p.m. today, the Seattle Sounders will face Orlando City SC for the first time in MLS history.
The game will likely feature a few of the players who make up 2015 Sounders 2.0: Nelson Valdez, Andreas Ivanschitz, Roman Torres, and Eric Friberg. Obafemi Martins could mark his return.
This could be the day the Sounders right the ship (yacht).
On paper, these two teams look pretty similar. They both play possession football, averaging 53% of possession in matches. They both attack up the middle, but also play with width. Both teams take a low number of shots per game.
But while the Sounders defense has struggled recently, Orlando's has struggled even more. They have given up 10 more goals than the Sounders (37 v. 27) in the same number of games played. Eight percent of those goals have come from the counter attack. Orlando has struggled to defend the counter, is weak in the air, and leave gaps defensively that Seattle can exploit.
I am optimistic that today is the day the Sounders will turn their season around.
