FIVE KEYS to the game
KICKOFF
1 Condition yellow
Yordy Reyna misses this game on yellow card accumulation, and Nico Mezquida will likely step in to fill his place. The past three games Reyna has missed or benched, the slender Uruguayan has stepped in to fill his role as the second striker. Without Reyna, the Caps are missing one of their most dangerous attackers, one with a goal and four assists over the past three games. Mezquida has scored some clutch goals for Vancouver in their hot streak; his goal against NYCFC was just the sixth conceded by the Blues at home all season, and his distance strike against the San Jose Earthquakes turned out to be the game-winner.
2 Finding Chad Marshall
While it appeared the Sounders were going to be without their No. 1 centreback and third-leading scorer after referee Baldomero Toledo — also well-known to Caps fans — showed the big American international a red card late in Seattle’s 3-1 win over Sporting Kansas City. But an independent review panel rescinded the call, which was borderline to begin with, allowing him to suit up for Saturday’s game. The 6-foot-3 veteran defender has been a key piece of a Sounders defence that’s surrendered just 27 goals this season, a league-best.
3 Bad result, bad optics
The Alphonso Davies-less Whitecaps were beaten 2-0 in their last meeting with Seattle, an away game in July, but while the game degenerated into a hot mess for Vancouver — finishing on 10 men, again, after Efrain Juarez decided to chest-bump the referee — the Caps were put in a deep hole by just two critical errors. Centreback Doneil Henry was called for a handball in the box just moments into the game. A Nico Lodeiro penalty kick made it 1-0. Thirty minutes later, Lodeiro hit a shot from 25 yards out fooled Stefan Marinovic with a shot that had so much movement, it appeared to have been deflected. Defensively, the Caps played relatively well, but the offence looked disjointed and disinterested, perhaps put off-kilter by the hoopla around Davies’ absence.
4 Busting out of the CLink
Seattle’s biggest weakness is scoring goals — especially away from CenturyLink Field. The Sounders have scored only 35 times in league play, tied for second-fewest, and just 12 of those have come on the road. Only the Columbus Crew and Colorado Rapids, with all of four road wins between them, have fewer. At home, the Whitecaps have been steady. They’ve scored at least two goals in nine of their past 10 home games and are undefeated in 20 of their past 22 at BC Place.
5 Keeping it real
It’s not just the Emerald Wall that’s contributed to the Sounders’ success. They have a Stef of their own in net — all-star goalie Stefan Frei. Caps fans will remember his stop on Fredy Montero last season, but it was all part of a season that saw him lead MLS with 12 shutouts and set a league record with a 624-minute shutout streak in the playoffs.