The Seattle Sounders and Portland Timbers return from a seven-week World Cup break to renew one of the best and oldest soccer rivalries in North America. Neither team is coming into this game entirely full strength.

In addition to still being without a permanent head coach, the Timbers are missing Designated Player Kristoffer Velde and Sounders-killer Juan Mosquera. The Sounders are missing at least four would-be starters.

There should be a good crowd on hand, though, and fireworks are always possible.

Here’s what you need to know:

Injury news

Sounders

OUT: Yeimar Gómez Andrade — Hamstring; Pedro de la Vega — Knee; Kim Kee-hee — Hamstring; Nikola Petković — Knee; Alex Roldan — Hip; Cristian Roldan — Quad

QUESTIONABLE: Ryan Sailor — Hamstring

Timbers

OUT: Omir Fernandez — Lower Body; Gage Guerra — Core; Juan Mosquera — Foot/Ankle; Kristoffer Velde — Not Due to Injury

Opposition players to watch

Kevin Kelsy: No one has ever really doubted the forward’s talent, but his commitment is sometimes called into question. That said, you have to believe the Venezuelan will be looking to impress his new coach — even if he hasn’t been officially hired yet — and can definitely be a handful.

James Pantemis: The Timbers goalkeeper has been one of the few bright spots this year, sitting sixth in the league with 4.9 goals prevented, according to Opta. Pantemis has mostly been pretty good against the Sounders, too, allowing just one goal in his only other appearance.

Stats to look smart

-12.9: As bad as the Timbers’ record has been, the underlying numbers actually suggest they’ve been over-performing. Their -12.9 xGD is the third worst in the league, compared to their actual GD of -6, which is only ninth worst.

-5.8: The Sounders have actually done a decent job of creating chances, and they rank eighth in MLS with 1.75 xG per game. What they’ve not done is reliably turn those into goals, where they’re underperforming by 5.8, which puts them third from worst.

Tactics to impress

Nearly two months after the Timbers fired Phil Neville, they still don’t have a permanent replacement. That leaves former Timbers 2 coach Jack Cassidy to lead the side. We don’t much about his style, but T2 were one of the better defensive teams in MLS Next Pro. It’s probably fair to assume that he’s not trying to get too inventive, so they might be content to sit deep and look for counters.
The Sounders know they’ve not been good enough offensively this year. But the top-line numbers are a little unkind. This is still a team that seems willing to push numbers into the box and they will surely try to do exactly that against the Timbers.