Match Preview: Vancouver vs. Seattle Sounders

Match Information

Teams: Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs Seattle Sounders FC

Location: Disney’s Wild World of Sports Complex, Orlando, FL

Date and Time: July 19th, 9:00 pm EST, 6:00 pm PST

Watching: TSN (in Canada) & MLS Live on ESPN+ (in US)

What to expect

After getting our first meltdown of the season out of the way, the Whitecaps are surely poised to stake their claim on second place in Group F. This is what I’d say if I’d never seen a Whitecaps match in my life and was forced to write an article about it. Seeing as this isn’t the case, I will simply say this: Nobody has any idea what to expect from this Cascadia Clash, yet nothing will surprise us.

Seattle is coming off of two so-so performances against Chicago and San Jose, garnering them one single point. For them this is a must-win game if they are to have any chance at advancing.. After taking a look over on https://www.sounderatheart.com/, the general consensus from the supporters is that their coach isn’t giving their young players a chance during perhaps an ideal time for them to be playing. Sound familiar?

If it does, it’s because we’re hearing something similar on our side of the border. When asked about his lack of substitutions in the San Jose match, Marc Dos Santos had interesting thoughts

Will we see more from our youngsters? Or can we expect a similar lineup to the one we saw on that fateful Wednesday? I’d expect to see Ryan Raposo start on the wing in place of either Dajome or Milinkovic, as this will more than likely end in a counterattacking game where we concede possession. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for the same bounces we saw the last time out.

I think we’ll see Derek Cornelius in for Jasser Khmiri, as Veselinovic had some moments of brilliance, both with his blocking and dribbling abilities. As for up top? Your guess is as good as mine. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Reyna again playing as a false nine, as his speed will be invaluable on the counter.

The Vancouver Whitecaps won’t have Erik Godoy or Janio Bikel available on Sunday’s match due to injury, with the latter being ruled out for the remainder of the tournament. Leonard Owusu picked up a knock against San Jose, and is listed as day-to-day.

Starting XI

Crepeau

Adnan-Veselinovic-Cornelius-Nerwinski

In-Beom-Teibert-Owusu

Dajome-Reyna-Raposo

Prediction

I think this will be a bit of a shot-fest from Seattle, with Crepeau having a great enough performance to keep them at bay. An alligator will appear on the pitch to scare Stefan Frei away from his goal, leaving it open for late sub Theo Bair to knock it in off the post. If you think that’s a crazy prediction, you haven’t been paying attention. 1-0 ‘Caps.