After an unsuccessful road trip, the Vancouver Whitecaps return to BC Place Stadium on Saturday for a Cascadia Cup clash with their arch-rivals, the Seattle Sounders.
On Wednesday, the Caps were beaten 2-1 at Dallas, dropping them down to ninth in the Western Conference of Major League Soccer, while the Rave Green suffered the same fate at home to Austin FC but are still leading the conference with 23 points.
Match preview
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It was another bitterly disappointing night for Vanni Sartini and the Whitecaps earlier this week, as they remain winless away from home, losing both encounters on their recent road swing and currently clinging to the final playoff spot.
Wednesday was the fourth time this year that Vancouver had scored the opening goal and failed to claim three points, as they have let 10 points slip away this year when leading 1-0.
Another bizarre stat is that this team have led going into half time three times over the domestic campaign but only have three points to show for it.
While things have not worked out as they had hoped on the road, they should feel better about their chances at BC Place, where the Caps are unbeaten in five consecutive regular-season contests, conceding a goal or fewer on four occasions.
They have only dropped one of their home games this season to a Western Conference opponent, winning a see-saw battle with Minnesota United the last time out, 3-2.
In 2022 the Caps got an albatross off their backs, defeating the Rave Green 2-1 at BC Place, ending a 15-match winless run against their Pacific Northwest foes.
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While still well positioned in the table, the Sounders have not been as consistent as we saw at the start of the campaign, failing to win three of their last four domestic outings, including back-to-back on home soil.
What has to be of particular concern for manager Brian Schmetzer at the moment is the fact that his team have allowed many dangerous scoring chances to some of the weaker sides, conceding twice to Austin and Sporting Kansas City, who are separated by 10 and 13 points respectively from Seattle in the table.
Given their struggles at Lumen Field of late, perhaps going out on the road would do them some good, and the Rave Green have played well away from home lately, failing to concede in their previous two away fixtures.
The Rave Green have been relatively slow out of the gate over the past few weeks, without a first-half strike in seven straight domestic fixtures, while three of their last four MLS goals conceded have come in the opening 45 minutes.
Coming into this weekend, Seattle have lost their last four meetings versus Cascadia Cup opponents (Vancouver Whitecaps and Portland Timbers) and have not beaten the Caps or Timbers in a regular season road contest since clobbering Portland 6-2 in August 2021.
Over the years, it has been rare to see them behind at the interval, but when they are the Rave Green struggle to get back into a match, winless in 19 straight regular-season games when trailing after 45 minutes, a streak that dates back to 2019.
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- D
- W
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Seattle Sounders form (all competitions):
- W
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- L
Team News
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On Wednesday, Sartini made three changes to his Whitecaps starting 11 from the previous match, bringing Ryan Raposo, Mathias Laborda and Brian White into the fold in place of Luis Martins, Tristan Blackmon and Ryan Gauld.
Pedro Vite had the only goal for Vancouver in their loss to Dallas earlier this week, while Yohei Takaoka has now conceded multiple times in three successive MLS encounters.
Vite and Julian Gressel each netted in this exact fixture last year when Thomas Hasal was between the sticks, stopping six shots to preserve the victory.
The Sounders were without Kelyn Rowe on Wednesday due to a left knee sprain, Cristian Roldan was kept out because of concussion protocol, Raul Ruidiaz has a right hamstring strain, Ethan Dobbelaere is dealing with a sprained right ankle and Obed Vargas is on international duty for the American Under-20 squad competing at the World Cup.
Former Caps striker Fredy Montero had the only Sounders goal on Wednesday in their defeat versus the Verde and Black, while Heber collected his first assist as a member of the Rave Green.
Montero has scored nine times in regular-season fixtures between these two club, five with the Sounders, while Nicolas Lodeiro has seven goals against Vancouver, one of which came in their 4-0 home victory last season.
Vancouver Whitecaps possible starting lineup:
Takaoka; Brown, Veselinovic, Blackmon, Martins; Gressel, Cubas, Schopf; Gauld, White, Vite
Seattle Sounders possible starting lineup:
Frei; A. Roldan, Arreaga, Gomez, Tolo; Rusnak, Paulo; Chu, Lodeiro, Morris; Heber
We say: Vancouver Whitecaps 1-1 Seattle Sounders
The Sounders always seem to bounce back after a tough outing and have not lost consecutive matches all year, though they have not been quite as sharp over the past couple of weeks.
Vancouver are at their best when playing at home and have not lost to a playoff team under the dome throughout the 2023 MLS campaign.
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Top tip
Joel Lefevre
