Vancouver Whitecaps Take on Sporting Kansas City on Saturday

Who: Whitecaps VS Sporting Kansas City

When: Saturday, August 20th, 2016, 7 pm PT.

Watch: TSN 1

Listen: Team 1040

The Vancouver Whitecaps will try to turn their season around when they take on Sporting Kansas City on Saturday. The Whitecaps are winless in five straight matches and have fallen two points out of a playoff spot, however, with nine regular season matches remaining, the season is far from over.

Still Though..

Yeah, the Whitecaps have been bad lately. On July 16th, they drew with Orlando City FC 2-2, allowing their one goal lead to fall in the second half thanks to Canadian Cyle Larin. In the following four matches, the Whitecaps have scored one goal, and have lost three times. It’s bad, folks. With Pedro Morales, Cristian Techera and other players simply not performing up to expectation, how can the Whitecaps pull themselves out of the funk? According to a quote from Carl Robinson at WhitecapsFC.com, lineup changes are probably one way to go.

“I’ve gone passed the stage of thinking that people need to play if they’re not playing well,” Robinson said. “I said to the group there, decisions will be made based upon trying to win a game of football on Saturday.”

With Kekuta Manneh expected out again this week, that could mean some more minutes for players like Blas Perez, or perhaps someone like Alphonso Davies.

Speaking of the Lineup

How will Carl Robinson handle his starting eleven, with the Whitecaps playing SKC in a CCL match on Tuesday? It could mean some more minutes for younger players, but you would have to think Robinson will still look at fielding as competitive a starting lineup as possible, with the Whitecaps desperately clawing at a fading post-season spot. He’s pledged to take struggling players out of his lineup, but how far does that extend? Come to think of it, this could be the perfect excuse to sit someone like Pedro Morales.

Prediction

The Whitecaps are struggling badly, and I don’t see how a road match against a good home team (SKC is 8-4-1 at home) will help remedy that. Optimist me says the Whitecaps scratch out a draw.