After booking their place in the Western Conference final with a win over FC Dallas on Tuesday, the Seattle Sounders await the winner of Thursday's matchup between Sporting Kansas City and Minnesota United (8:30 pm ET | FOX). And the Extratime crew had some strong opinions on who the Sounders should want heading into the season's penultimate game.
Charlie Davies makes a distinction that there are two versions of SKC: one with Alan Pulido in the starting lineup and one without. "They were just relentless," Davies said of SKC with Pulido. "They keep coming in waves and they play good soccer. Without Pulido, it's kind of like you don't know what you're going to get. Guys are just running, all in different directions and the combinations aren't there."
Pulido has been absent from the starting lineup since Oct. 28 due to a knee injury but coach Peter Vermes declared him available for Thursday's clash.
Andrew Wiebe, meanwhile, thinks the Sounders will prefer the Loons. "They will want to play at home, they will look at Minnesota and say, 'We have more talent than they do, I think, on pretty much every line and we have faith in ourselves to do it there.'"
As for Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer, he's not stressing out too much about which team is next up for the defending champs.
“I'm looking forward to sitting back on Thursday, having a nice glass of red wine watching a good soccer game, and then figuring out who our opponent is,” Schmetzer said after the win over Dallas.
