Seattle Sounders FC vs. Los Angeles Football Club | 2018 MLS Match Preview

Dylan Butler

Seattle Sounders FC vs. Los Angeles Football Club
2018 MLS Regular Season – Week 1
CenturyLink Field - Seattle
5 pm ET – March 4, 2018
WATCH: ESPN

There are storylines abound for this tasty Week 1 showdown between the back-to-back MLS Cup finalists in Seattle Sounders FC and the new kids on the block, expansion side LAFC.

Seattle have been a model franchise since joining MLS in 2009, regularly among the best in the league in attendance and play on the field, while LAFC, with its superstar ownership group and stars on the field like Carlos Vela and Diego Rossi, are looking to make an immediate splash.

Seattle Sounders FC

The Rave Green have several advantages on their side in this one, from being the established team, to playing at home and already having a pair of competitive matches under their belt against Santa Tecla in the CONCACAF Champions League. They also have their share of injuries, including a devastating diagnosis to Jordan Morris, who is lost for the entire 2018 season after suffering a torn ACL in the first leg in El Salvador.

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: None
Injury Report: OUT: F - Jordan Morris (right torn ACL); QUESTIONABLE: M - Osvaldo Alonso (quad strain), D - Kelvin Leerdam (ankle sprain), M - Victor Rodriguez (quad strain), D - Roman Torres (leg)

Projected Starting XI
(4-2-3-1, right to left)
GK: GK: Stefan Frei — Jordan McCrary, Tony Alfaro, Chad Marshall, Waylon Francis — Gustav Svensson, Cristian Roldan — Magnus Wolff Eikrem, Clint Dempsey, Nicolas Lodeiro — Will Bruin

Notes: Since coming into MLS, Sounders FC have lost just once in their first meeting with an expansion club – a 4-1 defeat by the Montreal Impact in 2012. Last year, Sounders FC drew in their lone meeting with Atlanta United and defeated Minnesota United in both encounters.

LAFC

The day that — some — soccer fans in Los Angeles have been waiting for is finally here. You never get a second chance to make a first impression and LAFC will certainly look to make a statement with a positive result in Seattle. There might not be anyone better than Bob Bradley to navigate an expansion team through the rigors of their first MLS season, as he proved with the Chicago Fire back in 1998. Fans should breathe a sigh of relief too, with news that star forward Carlos Vela is expected to be good to go after feeling a “little bit of tightness” in his leg in the club’s final preseason match.

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: None
Injury Report: DOUBTFUL: Laurent Ciman (knee), Omar Gaber (groin)

Projected Starting XI
(4-2-3-1, right to left)
GK: Tyler Miller — Steven Beitashour, Walker Zimmerman, Dejan Jakovic, Joao Moutinho — Calum Mallace, Benny Feilhaber — Latif Blessing, Carlos Vela, Diego Rossi — Marcos Urena