The Seattle Sounders play Minnesota United in Game 1 of their best-of-3 series on Monday. We asked Jon Marthaler, who covers United for the Star Tribune, to give us some insight.
Notable injuries
Striker Kelvin Yeboah is still recovering from a hamstring injury; if they deviate from the 5-4-1, it will be because he isn’t ready to go from the start. RCB Carlos Harvey is out; backup LCB Morris Duggan may not be ready by Monday.
How’s been their recent form?
Poor, in general. Without Yeboah, the team has reverted to a 4-4-2 with attacking midfielders Robin Lod and Joaquín Pereyra as the “strikers,” and it’s not really a setup that suits the team’s strengths.
Key players
Yeboah’s fitness is the key. If he’s healthy, the Loons can play the way that they want to play. If he’s not, they have to start pounding square pegs into round holes. A lot of the attacking eight already falls on Joaquin Pereyra but the question is how much.
One thing opposing fans should know
Minnesota did well this season to mold their attack around Yeboah and Tani Oluwaseyi. With Oluwaseyi now departed for Villareal, it’s been something of a struggle — especially when Yeboah went down injured — to retrofit that two-man attack into a one-man front line.
Projected lineup
5-2-3: St. Clair; Markanich, Romero, Boxall, Diaz, Hlongwane; Trapp, Triantis; Pereyra, Yeboah, Lod
