After having a bye week, the Seattle Sounders return to action as they travel to Avaya Stadium to take on the San Jose Earthquakes. This will be one of the more pivotal games for both clubs as the 2016 MLS season begins to wind down and come to an end. Both clubs are fighting to make it above the redline. San Jose sits in seventh place with 32 points while Seattle is sitting on 31 points. A win here for either club will be huge.
Last time out
The last time out, the Sounders were manhandled by the Portland Timbers, losing 4-2. The Sounders gave up four first half goals before grabbing two quick goals just after the second half began. However, it was not enough and the Sounders saw their five-game unbeaten streak come to an end.
San Jose is coming off of a 2-0 loss on the road to the Columbus Crew. San Jose has not won a game since their 2-1 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps on August 12th and has won only twice since July 16th.
Last meeting
These two squared off earlier in the season that saw the Sounders win 2-0 on goals from Clint Dempsey (26’) and Jordan Morris (89’). Seattle outshot San Jose 15 to 11 with eight of those being on target compared to San Jose’s one. Seattle has a pass completion rate of 81% to San Jose’s 76%. Seattle also held 53.1% of the possession to their 46.9%.
This time around there will be no Dempsey as he is still being held out due to experiencing an irregular heartbeat and there is no timetable on when Dempsey will return this year, if at all. Seattle will be led by Morris and Nicolás Lodeiro. Since Lodeiro arrived in Seattle, he has kick-started the Sounders attack. After scoring more than three goals once all season, a 5-0 victory over FC Dallas, the Sounders have scored three goals in a game twice in their last five outings.
Keys to the game
San Jose will need to figure out how to contain Lodeiro. Most teams have struggled at times to contain the Uruguayan. When teams focus too much on him, it opens up spaces for Seattle’s other playmakers. On Seattle’s side, they will need to not give up any cheap goals. Chris Wondolowski has a knack for being in the right spot at the right time. Sounders goalkeeper Stefan Frei will need to do his very best to limit rebound chances.
Prediction
With eight games left in the season for both teams, expect them to go all out in this one. This is not the time to be hesitant on either side of the ball for either of these two teams. This will be Seattle’s second ever trip to Avaya Stadium and they will want to walk out with a win. Expect both Lodeiro and Morris to score for Seattle while Wondolowski will score for San Jose to make it interesting late.