Friday, May 20, 2011

Off to the Emerald City

Yes I'm using a Wizards of Oz reference for this weekend's Sporting KC vs Seattle Sounders game. KC is winless in 6 now after last weekend's 4-1 loss to LA. Seattle comes in on a losing streak of their own, as they are winless in 3, the last 2 being draws in Columbus and home vs Portland. The Sounders have plenty of injury issues to deal with as two of their top attackers this season, Steve Zakuani and O'Brien White are out with injury currently. Their midfield has also been hit a bit, but appears to be getting better as Mauro Rosales and Erik Friberg have both returned more fully to practice.

Kansas City is probably the healthiest it's been all season. Ryan Smith has been getting more game time and Omar Bravo appears to be on his way back to health. On the other side, Davy Arnaud has a neck injury that could potentially keep him out of this weekend's game. So it looks likely that we'll see yet another new lineup for Sporting KC tomorrow in Seattle. I think it'll likely be multiple changes, including in the defense after the performance last week in LA.

Smith - Bunbury - Kamara
Arnaud - Bravo - Rocastle
Espinoza - Collin - Besler - Harrington
Nielsen

Number to Remember - 19 - This road trip is getting long, but after tomorrow's game there will be only 19 days until the stadium opens.

Key Match Up - Aurelien Collin vs Nate Jaqua - While Fredy Montero is probably the bigger threat, shutting down Jaqua is going to be a key for this game for Kansas City. Until last week in LA, KC had done a decent job of shutting down the main threat, it's been the lesser known player that has came back to bit KC.

PREDICTION - This is a trap game for Seattle, they're coming off of a rivalry game with a lot of emotion when they played the Portland Timbers last week. It's a game that on paper Seattle should win as well. But KC would have to completely turn around their play from the LA to fulfill the other side of the trap game. If KC plays like they did in LA, the Sounders will take them apart. I still doubt that KC will be able to pull off a win in Seattle and I just have a bad feeling the winless streak will reach 8.

KC - 1 (Kamara)
SEA - 2 (Montero, Frieberg)
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1 comment:

  1. Nathan Martin5/21/2011 01:38:00 PM

    Considering how slowly they brought Smith back into the fold, I'd be surprised if Bravo started.

    However, I have been wondering all year if Vermes would finally try out the alternative formation that he talked about during the pre-season. It'd be interesting to see a modified 4-4-2 with Bravo underneath Bunbury and Smith and Kamara pinched in and Arnaud & Auvary sweeping from side-to-side.

    Subs: Stojcev (Bravo)
    Sapong (Bunbury)

    There's too much talent to mess it up all season. It may not be enough this year, but this team will put on some offensive shows and win some games.

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