The Seattle Sounders look to continue their unbeaten start to the season when they host the Vancouver Whitecaps at Lumen Field on Saturday night.
Seattle has given up just five goals in ten games in topping the MLS standings while Vancouver has lost five straight games to sit at the bottom of the Western Conference.
Team news
The Sounders are still without goalkeeper Stefan Frei as he continues to recover from a knee injury with Stefan Cleveland getting his fifth consecutive start. Midfielder and captain Nicolas Lodeiro is still on the mend following knee surgery, Jordy Delem and Jordan Morris continue to rehab ACL injuries and Josh Atencio has a muscle injury.
The Whitecaps will be without defender Javain Brown, who is day-to-day with a head injury while Bruno Gaspar is also missing from the Vancouver back-line as he nurses a left ankle sprain and forward Tosaint Ricketts recovers from Achilles tendinopathy, both week-to-week. Ali Adnan is away as he awaits approval on his Visa from US Citizenship and Immigration department.
Predicted lineups
Seattle: Cleveland; O'Neill, Gomez, Sissoko; A. Roldan, C. Roldan, Paulo, Rowe, Smith; Ruidiaz, Bruin
Vancouver: Crepeau; Gutierrez, Rose, Godoy, Brown; Bikel, Baldisimo, Alexandre; Cavallini, White, Dijome
Ones to watch
Raul Ruidiaz is tied for the league lead with eight goals, more than half of Seattle's total (15) while Fredy Montero faces his former team.
Lucas Cavallini was the Whitecaps top scorer last season, finding the back of the net six times in 18 appearances, but has only scored once this season while playing in eight of their nine games.
Previous meetings
Seattle is unbeaten in their last 11 matches against Vancouver, having not lost to their Cascadia rivals since April 2017 and have not tasted defeat to the Whitecaps at home since March 2016.
Their last matchup resulted in a 2-0 victory for Seattle on October 27th, 2020 with Ruidiaz and Lodeiro scoring six minutes apart in the second half that clinched a playoff spot for the Sounders.
How to watch
ESPN+ will provide national streaming coverage while fans in the Seattle area can find coverage of the match on JOEtv and Prime Video. TSN1 and TSN3 will televise the match in Vancouver. Kick-off is set for 9pm Eastern time.