This season the Sounders have met the Whitecaps twice with two very tough outcomes. One, they did fight back and eventually win, and then the other, a game that saw the Rave Green make attempt after attempt only to be out done by a couple of outlier moments (in regards to which team had the most “momentum”) from Kenny Miller and Darren Mattocks. Both forwards scoring fantastic goals, while Brad Knighton was killer in goal stopping 7 shots and a couple that seemed just plain lucky from a Seattle stand point–hell, they were lucky even from a neutral stand point.



While Seattle has struggled a bit against the Whites from the north and appears to be down a few key guys it’s not as though the Whitecaps are unaffected by the World Cup Qualifies either. They will loose Johnny Leveron to Honduras and supposedly will, maybe, perhaps, loose Darren Mattocks and it seems possible that both Carlyle Mitchell (just was announced to be on Trinidad & Tobago roster) and Russell Teibert (called into camp by Canada for a friendly) could be either absent or used sparingly with upcoming international appearances in the next 6 days.

Add to that the fact that the Whitecaps have struggled magnificently on the road and the Sounders have been dominate at home. There are a lot of reasons to think that 3-points is not only probable it should be expected going into this Casacadia derby tonight.

Let’s take a look at a few things:

Statistical Comparison

3-to-Watch

Vancouver Whitecaps

Seattle Sounders FC

Injury Report/Suspensions

SOUNDERS FC — OUT: GK Josh Ford (R patella fracture), Eddie Johnson (International Call-up, USA), Brad Evans (International Call-up, USA), Zach Scott (Suspension, red card) QUESTIONABLE: F Will Bates (R knee injury), M Clint Dempsey (R hamstring strain), D Leo Gonzalez (L hip injury), M Shalrie Joseph (R knee sprain), D Djimi Traore (L hamstring strain).

VANCOUVER — OUT: M/F Omar Salgado (R foot fracture), D Brad Rusin (R ankle sprain), Darren Mattocks (International Call-up, Jamaica), Johnny Leveron (International Call-up, Honduras), Carlyle Mitchell PROBABLE: F Kenny Miller (R adductor tightness)

h/t to @JoshuaMayers

Game Thoughts

A couple of weeks ago we talked about how people were setting themselves up for disappointment with the Red Bulls being in town. The frequent narrative, outside of Henry not playing on turf, was that New York was a “bad” traveling club. That they had little chance in Seattle. We all saw how that played out, with horrible weather and a neutralized playing surface.

A lot of people were disappointed with a draw and the loss of two points. They shouldn’t be. As the Red Bulls are a very good team.

Vancouver has some great pieces. I wouldn’t go so far as to say much more. But they have a lot of promising pieces. The problem is that they’ve been terrible on the road.They consistently allow their opponents to out shoot them through the majority of the season. Now not all shots are the same. I think we all understand that, but considering the significant difference between the two ratios.

#EternalBlue #ForeverGreen