Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs. Seattle Sounders FC | 2018 MLS Match Preview

Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs. Seattle Sounders FC
2018 MLS Regular Season — Week 29
BC Place — Vancouver
Sept. 15 — 10 pm ET
WATCH: TSN2, ESPN+

Streaking Cascadia Cup rivals square off at BC Place Saturday when the Vancouver Whitecaps FC put a six-game unbeaten streak on the line against a Seattle Sounders squad that has won eight straight in 11 unbeaten in a match with major playoff implications.

The Whitecaps are coming off a second straight win, beating the San Jose Earthquakes, 2-1, on Sept. 1, while the Sounders knocked off Sporting Kansas City, 3-1, that day.

This is the second meeting this season with the Sounders winning 2-0 at CenturyLink Field on July 21 thanks to Nico Lodeiro's first-half brace.

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Vancouver Whitecaps FC

Vancouver (11-9-7) won for the third time in six games without defeat after defeating the San Jose Earthquakes for a second consecutive match.

Alphonso Davies and Nicolas Mezquida scored a goal in each half before Vako pulled the Quakes back a goal in second-half stoppage time.

“We’re both in the same boat,” Carl Robinson said. “We’re both on good runs. Obviously they’ve strung [together] eight consecutive wins. I’ve watched all their games and I think they’ve deserved most of them. I think they’ve been lucky in one or two of them, but so have we.

“It’s a new game of football. There’ll be freshness in the game, as with all derbies. Whenever you play Seattle or Portland there’ll be energy, mistakes, wrong decisions, and it’ll be down to the players as to who will win the game.”

• Suspended: M - Yordy Reyna
• Suspended after next caution: None
• International duty: None
• Injury Report: OUT: D - Jose Aja (left quad injury), M - Jordon Mutch (right foot injury)

Projected Starting XI
(4-2-3-1, right to left)
GK: Stefan Marinovic — Jake Nerwinski, Kendall Waston, Aaron Maund, Brett Levis — Aly Ghazal, Felipe — Cristian Techera, Russell Teibert, Alphonso Davies — Kei Kamara

Seattle Sounders FC

Sitting just above the playoff line, Seattle (12-9-5) defeated Sporting Kansas City, 3-1, at CenturyLink Field on Sept. 1.

After falling behind on Diego Rubio’s 2nd-minute goal, Raul Ruidiaz leveled 10 minutes later and following an own goal by Graham Zusi, Lodeiro converted a 56th-minute penalty kick.

“Two teams that are playing at a pretty high level, it should be a very exciting match,” Brian Schmetzer said. “The added bonus, the flavor, the little bit of sparkle, to the match is the Cascadia Cup. I know we can go up there and get a result and that will come back to us. That’s something we’re aware of as well so there’s lots to play for up there.”

• Suspended: None
• Suspended after next caution: D - Jordy Delem
• International duty: None
• Injury Report: OUT: F - Jordan Morris (torn ACL), F - Felix Chenkam (herniated disc); QUESTIONABLE: M - Victor Rodriguez (right hamstring strain)

Projected Starting XI
(4-2-3-1, right to left)
GK: Stefan Frei — Kelvin Leerdam, Kim Kee-hee, Chad Marshall, Brad Smith — Gustav Svensson, Osvaldo Alonso — Cristian Roldan, Nico Lodeiro, Harry Shipp — Raul Ruidiaz

All-Time Series

• Overall: Vancouver Whitecaps FC 7 wins, 26 goals … Seattle Sounders FC 9 wins, 31 goals … 5 draws
• At Vancouver: Whitecaps FC 3 wins, 12 goals … Sounders FC 4 wins, 16 goals … 4 draws
• Last meeting at Vancouver: Vancouver Whitecaps FC 1, Seattle Sounders FC 1 (Aug. 23, 2017)

Officials

Referee: Robert Sibiga
Assistant Referees: Eric Weisbrod, Jeremy Kieso
4th Official: Drew Fischer
VAR: Geoff Gamble