The Seattle Sounders are visiting Cascadia rivals Vancouver Whitecaps FC on Saturday night in their first meeting of the season. Here is everything you need to know:
WHEN AND WHERE: Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. PT at BC Place in Vancouver, British Columbia.
WHERE TO WATCH: The match will be available to watch on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
WHERE TO LISTEN: The match will air in English on 950 KJR AM and in Spanish on El Rey 1360AM.Â
2023 RECORDS AND STANDINGS: Sounders: 7-4-2 (23 points, 1st West), Whitecaps: 3-4-5 (14 points, 9th West)
FORM GUIDE (most recent first, MLS matches only): Seattle: LWLDW, Vancouver: LLWDD
PREVIOUS MEETING: The Whitecaps defeated the Sounders 2-1 at BC Place on Sept. 17, 2022. Pedro Vite and Julian Gressel scored first-half goals for the hosts before an 89th- minute Will Bruin goal pulled one back for Seattle.
$20.26 Ticket Offer
In celebration of the world's game coming to the Emerald City, Sounders FC is providing an exclusive $20.26 ticket offer the next two home matches. Ticket sales proceeds will benefit RAVE Foundation, the official charitable arm of Sounders FC.
CASCADIA CLASH: The Sounders will play their second Cascadia Cup match of the season on Saturday after dropping their first match at the Portland Timbers last month. Portland leads the early standings with six points through three matches, while Vancouver has three points from two contests.
REINFORCEMENTS: Although they dropped a 2-1 home result to Austin FC midweek, the Sounders saw the return of Nouhou and Léo Chú, each of whom had missed time recently. Nouhou made his first appearance since recovering from Malaria that caused him to miss a month, while Chú healed from a foot sprain.
AWAY SUCCESS: Seattle heads north of the border looking to make it three consecutive matches with a clean sheet after blanking Real Salt Lake and the Houston Dynamo. The Sounders have been strong away from home through six contests this season, taking 10 points from 18 on offer (3-2-1).
DEFENSIVE ADDITION: The Whitecaps have been buoyed by the addition of Yohei Takaoka, a 27-year-old Japanese goalkeeper who joined this past offseason from the J.League. Takaoka has started every match while keeping four clean sheets and owning a save percentage above 70%.
TROUBLE FINISHING: Vancouver has played well through the first third of the MLS season, but the ‘Caps sit just above the Western Conference playoff line due in no small part to their lack of success in front of goal. They are seventh in MLS in Expected Goal Differential, per American Soccer Analysis, but have underperformed their xG by over 3.5 goals.
GRESSEL DEALING: Once a nominal wingback, Gressel has been playing as a right-sided central midfielder in his first full season with the ‘Caps, and he’s been pulling the strings in attack. The 29-year-old German has four assists, 21 Key Passes and is third in MLS in xA, behind only Atlanta United’s Thiago Almada and the San Jose Earthquake’s Cristian Espinoza.
