That was Seattle’s only win in a stretch of nine games (1-8-0) while Martins, now with a team-leading nine goals, recovered from a groin injury suffered late in a 3-1 U.S. Open Cup loss to Portland.
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Torres will be huge for Seattle, as he provides the stability at the back to allow defenders like Brad Evans to push up to their natural midfield positions without hurting the team’s functionality. “I’ll move in there and play it as I should and go from there”.
“Heading into the game, we’re somewhat guessing what their team will be, due to the injuries as of late”, Orlando City head coach Adrian Heath said of Seattle.
The Lions got off to an encouraging 1-0-1 start with an opening draw against expansion brother New York City FC and their inaugural MLS win over Houston. Oba and Thomás made effortlessly incisive runs on the last two goals scored for the Sounders. “We can’t worry about who is playing on the other team”. Right now the Lions sit just below the red line. “We’re not going to take it for granted”. Obviously up top with Larin, he’s having a phenomenal year.
But it’s a different story for Klopas and his team at Saputo Stadium. With the two defensive midfielders, they like to shut it down and keep the ball wide with (Aurelien) Collin in the back; he’s a stalwart in the air.
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Seattle added attacking players Andreas Ivanschitz and designated player Nelson Valdez, both joining MLS after successful careers in Europe. Osvaldo Alonso is questionable and Chad Barrett, Obafemi Martins, Leonardo Gonzalez and Clint Dempsey are all doubts. Orlando City is 1-4-2 over its past seven. The Sounders, who have also lost their last four on the road, are the league’s worst team over the last five weeks (tied with New England). Two former Sounders are on the Orlando roster: midfielder Servando Carrasco (2011-13) and goalkeeper Josh Ford (2011-14). He appeared very frustrated as the team slid down the league table in drought the past two months. They’ve got a striker who’s big and strong in Larin. The difficulty won’t be as much winning games as it will be selecting a Starting XI for Sigi Schmid. Olimpia in CONCACAF Champions League play, hosting their opponents at 10:00 pm ET. Seattle’s next MLS match is 7 p.m. Saturday at Real Salt Lake.
