Opposition Scouting Report: St. Louis City

The Seattle Sounders will be playing St. Louis City for the second time this season. St. Louis City won the first meeting, 1-0, on March 15. To help get us up to speed, we asked Matt Baker of the podcast Flyover Footy to answer some questions.

Notable injuries

Roman Bürki may carry a questionable tag as he returns to training this week. Right fullback Tomas Totland is likely out after re-aggravating his hamstring last weekend. Edu Löwen just returned to training this week after being out on non-injury leave so he’s unlikely to play and won’t start. Rasmus Alm (hip) and Jay Reid (foot) both returned to training in full this past week and will probably carry questionable tags. Henry Kessler (hamstring) and Chris Durkin (knee) are absolutely out.

Team form

Better but not yet good. The team held their own in the last three against three very good teams in Columbus, Vancouver and LAFC, including holding Vancouver to a rare goalless match and beginning to break out of their scoreless shell with three goals in their last three games (that’s seven goals in 10 games now). Overall, the team has had strong defensive performances with moments of mental breakdowns primarily that have cost points. Last week they showed they aren’t yet ready to do what it takes to hold a lead in stoppage time — after getting a late go-ahead goal — so there’s coaching work to be done, but this team is trending in the right direction, albeit slowly, as they await the return of key players from injuries.

Key players

Marcel Hartel runs the offense and has been playing a deeper 8 with Löwen out. Cedric Teuchert is one of the team’s best goal scorers and he’s starting to heat up as he gets healthier from missing time earlier this season. He’s the true goal-scoring threat with João Klauss as holding center forward who is a threat, but it’s Teuchert that has the better finishing touch. Conrad Wallem is also a player to watch who can move the ball effectively from back to front in a versatile role either a wingback or attacking midfielder depending on the game state.

One thing opposing fans should know

St. Louis City is still a defense-first team. They haven’t changed fundamentally from what Seattle saw last time. This St. Louis City team hasn’t shown a propensity to possess — will likely still be in the 30% range — but they have been better at progression in the few moments they’re patient enough to draw a press to their CBs and create through the wings. They play direct to goal in the attacking third so while they try to create space in the defensive and middle thirds of the field, they’ll attack direct to goal when they get the ball in the final third.

Projected lineup

3-4-3: Ben Lundt; Jannes Horn, Timo Baumgartl, Josh Yaro; Conrad Wallem, Marcel Hartel, Akil Watts, Kyle Hibert.; Célio Pompeu, Klauss, Cedric Teuchert