Enemy Scouting Report - Seattle Sounders
(image via AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
The Houston Dynamo close out their final home match in a stretch of three straight fierce foe, Seattle Sounders, tonight. Ben Olsen and his team will look to remain perfect at home, but Brian Schmetzer and his boys might be looking for a bounce back after suffering back-to-back losses.
Seattle Sounders were elimated from the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup midweek after losing against LA Galaxy. Former Dynamo, Memo Rodriguez scored a brace helping the Galaxy to stay in the tournament. Schmetzer rested most of his first team players that game, a gamble that ended with elimination. Rotation was understandable as the Sounders depth chart is really hurting with many players injured. Raul Ruidiaz, Nouhou Tolo, Kelyn Rowe and Cristian Roldan are some of their stars nursing injuries.
While Seattle stands high in first place of the Western Conference with 20 points, they were shocked in their last regular season match when bottom feeder Sporting Kansas City beat them at Lumen Field last weekend. Look for the Sounders to pack a punch to hand Houston their first loss of the season or at least, try and break the clean sheet streak. The players that Houston will need to contain are forward Jordan Morris, who has 8 goals in 11 matches, scoring 4 in one game. Captain Nicolas Lodeiro, at 34 years of age, continues to command the midfield for the Rave Green. The last one to mention is Heber. The Brazilian is slowly finding chemistry with his new teammates after joining from NYCFC and will pose danger near Steve Clark’s goal.
Seattle Sounders Regular Season Record: 6W-3L-2D
Results in the last 30 days:
April 15 – Portland Timbers 4-1 Seattle Sounders
April 22 - Seattle Sounders 1-0 Minnesota United
April 26 - Seattle Sounders 5-4 San Diego Loyal (USOC)
April 29 - Real Salt Lake 0-0 Seattle Sounders
May 7 - Seattle Sounders 1-2 Sporting KC
May 10 - LA Galaxy 3-1 Seattle Sounders (USOC)
Past Match Staring XI (from mlssoccer.com)
There will likely be some variation but look to see many of the players in the graphic starting.
2023 Active Roster
Goalkeepers: Stefan Frei, Andrew Thomas, Jacob Castro, Stefan Cleveland
Defenders: Xavier Arreaga, NouHou Tolo, Alex Roldan, Jackson Ragen, Yeimar Gomez Andrade, Cody Baker, Adboulaye Cissoko
Midfielders: Joao Paulo, Cristian Roldan, Nicolas Lodeiro, Albert Rusnak, Reed Baker-Whiting, Kelyn Rowe, Leo Chu, Ethan Dobbelaere, Obed Vargas, Sota Kitahara, Josh Atencio
Forwards: Raul Ruidiaz, Fredy Montero, Jordan Morris, Heber, Dylan Teves
Can Ibrahim Aliyu be the key for Houston to score goals or will the defense again be the star of the match against the Sounders as Houston chances perfection at home?
