3 keys: How will Sounders fare in Vancouver without Nicolas Lodeiro?

The Seattle Sounders are in a playoff spot for the first time this season. Cause to celebrate, sure, but things aren’t over yet. They head up I-5 on Sunday to face the Vancouver Whitecaps in a match that won’t be easy but is winnable, especially after last weekend’s 4-2 win in Los Angeles.

Seattle is in sixth place in the Western Conference, tied on points with the Portland Timbers but slightly above them (and over the playoffs line) because the Sounders have one more win this season. The Sounders also have a game in hand, which will take place on Oct. 12 against the Houston Dynamo. The Whitecaps, who were in the playoffs hunt a few weeks ago, now sit in eighth place with 35 points and no games in hand. They’re very, very unlikely to make the playoffs, so for them this match is about Cascadia pride – literally because the Whitecaps play two Northwest rivals in their last three matches and are currently three points below the Timbers in the Cascadia Cup standings. Wins in both would see them seal the Cup.

Here are three keys for the Sounders vs. Whitecaps on Sunday at 5 p.m. on KIRO Radio 97.3 FM:

1. How will Seattle cope without Nicolas Lodeiro?

The Sounders have already had to deal with losing Clint Dempsey on the pitch, and now thanks to Lodeiro’s foolish yellow card against Chicago, they’ll be without him against the Whitecaps. It doesn’t help that Lodeiro is also going to be called up to his national team next week and could miss the Sounders’ next match against Houston. That’s two of their four final games that their best player – the player that turned their season around – could be missing. So what can head coach Brian Schmetzer do to replace such a key player? There are two possible replacements, though neither will come close to producing even half of Lodeiro’s creativity in attack. The first is Erik Friberg, who has some of the passing skills of Lodeiro but doesn’t have the Uruguayan’s technique, finishing ability, pace and versatility. The other is Brad Evans, who is ready to return after being out for the past few weeks with a back strain. Evans hasn’t played in the midfield in a long time, especially not in an attacking role. Schmetzer could push Cristian Roldan up and put Evans alongside Osvaldo Alonso, but it seems foolish to break up such an effective duo. It’ll be interesting to see what Schmetzer does, but one thing is for sure: the Sounders will be far less effective in attack without Lodeiro.

2. Sounders could play for a draw in this one.

Make no mistake, the Sounders need as many points as possible from every single match. With so much at stake, they barely have the luxury of taking it easy in any of their final four matches. But with no Lodeiro and no Dempsey in a hostile rivalry environment, it would be hard to blame Schmetzer for playing it a bit on the conservative side. His team selection could hint at his strategy: putting Evans in midfield could mean that he’s hoping to shore up that area of the pitch rather than create chances from it. With their much-improved defense and set piece prowess, the Sounders could dedicate their resources to keeping a clean sheet, and hope that maybe Jordan Morris can snatch another goal or Andreas Ivanschitz can provide a chance from a corner or free kick.

3. Home field advantage for Vancouver? Maybe, maybe not.

Even though Cascadia matches always produce fantastic home atmospheres, and BC Place is no exception, the Whitecaps haven’t exactly taken advantage of their home crowd in 2016. They sit at the bottom of the chart for home form in the Western Conference with 24 points and a 5-4-6 record. The situation that the Whitecaps have found themselves in is far from ideal, and a loss on Sunday could remove all hope of even minor silverware this season. Coach Carl Robinson has said that his side won’t roll over for the Sounders or the Timbers, and he’ll be hoping that his team reverses its home fortunes in the last two of the season at BC Place. So while Schmetzer and the Sounders could be inspired by Vancouver’s poor home form, I expect the Canadians to come out swinging and with nothing to lose.

Spenser Davis also covers the Sounders for Sounder at Heart.