KANSAS CITY — The Seattle Sounders are looking to turn the page on Wednesday when they take on Sporting Kansas City at Children’s Mercy Park (5:30 p.m. PT; JOEtv, El Rey 1360AM) after dropping a 4-1 result at the Chicago Fire last Saturday.
The Sounders will aim to snap a two-game losing skid, but it will be easier said than done against a Sporting side that has only lost at home once in nearly a calendar year. Throw in the additions of offseason acquisitions Gerso Fernandes and Ilie Sanchez to the already-dangerous bunch of Dom Dwyer and Benny Feilhaber and that makes it even more difficult.
“If you look at them statistically at home, they’re pretty damn good,” Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer said after practice at Swope Park in Kansas City on Monday. “Good defensive squad. The challenge is to take our team, which has struggled to be consistent in front of goal, and manufacture goals against them. That’ll be the key to the game.”
The offensive responsibility will fall much on the shoulders of Nicolas Lodeiro, who will be involved in a great matchup between he and Ilie, SKC’s No. 6. Lodeiro has three goals and four assists on the young season, while Ilie has clogged the area above the back four effectively to help Sporting only allow seven goals so far through 11 matches.
“He’s very good,” Schmetzer said of Ilie. “He’s a smart player too if you watch him, where he moves and how he moves. Nico’s a little bit more active than him…so hopefully Nico’s ability to cover ground is something that we can do to make him chase Nico.”
Despite Schmetzer’s insistence on the need to generate and finish more chances around the net, the Sounders enter Wednesday averaging a decent 1.5 goals per game. The defense by committee, however, has allowed eight goals over the previous three matches and will likely be a patchwork effort once again.
Center back Roman Torres is still sidelined with a hamstring strain, left back Joevin Jones is suspended, Chad Marshall returned against the Fire after missing three straight contests with lower back pain and Oniel Fisher and Brad Evans are still in the recovery process, although Evans saw his first minutes on Saturday since 2016 MLS Cup.
The good news for Schmetzer & Co. is that defender Jordy Delem is eligible after serving a one-game suspension last Saturday, as is left back Nouhou, who is nearly recovered from a dislocated shoulder injury and flew into Kansas City on Monday. The 19-year-old Cameroonian has yet to feature in a first-team match this season, but that could change on Wednesday.
“He’s a tough kid, he’s a strong kid,” Schmetzer said of Nouhou. “He pushed somebody over in the little drill down there. He smells an opportunity because he’s the only other real left back in our system. He sniffs it.”
