World News – CA – Short rest: Vancouver Whitecaps stable for quick turnaround Tuesday against Sounders

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A Tuesday day could bring new faces to the roster as the Whitecaps gear up for the Sounders in Portland

With just three games to go in the regular season, the Vancouver Whitecaps will look to make a quick turnaround as they prepare to face the Seattle Sounders on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in Portland

Unlike last weekend, the Whitecaps won’t have the benefit of an even rest, and Marc Dos Santos has suggested in his media availability that he expects a decent rotation from the squad that kicked off the 2-1 win over San José last Saturday

« We can’t date the same team [as on Saturday], if the game had been on Wednesday it would have been a different story. It could impact the game in the same way as the game against Chicago in the MLS is Back Hope we can push like this Guys who start the game have a huge responsibility We need some fresh legs so this is a chance to show how they can respond This is not a choice tactical, it’s almost mandatory « 

Opponents of the Whitecaps on Tuesday, meanwhile, have struggled a bit lately Their rivals from Cascadia are winless in their last three games, but the defending MLS Cup champions are still a force with which to count in the West Even with their recent cold streak, the Sounders currently sit second in the conference and are only one point behind Sporting Kansas City, with one game less played

The Sounders are still waiting to officially land a playoff berth (due to Colorado’s COVID issues), but this team will surely be looking to get back in shape against Vancouver as they prepare for the MLS playoffs and a title defense If you want more general information on how the Sounders season unfolds, I also encourage you to check out my face to face with Mark from Sounder at Heart

The last time these two teams met, on October 3, the Whitecaps were vastly outscored and were eventually reduced to ten men before the match ended 3-1 at Centurylink Field The Whitecaps will not only be looking to prevent a season series sweep in this game, but also move closer to a playoff berth as they are currently 7th in the Western Conference.

Any result in this one would help ease the pressure from the last two games of the regular season, especially as the Whitecaps face the Portland Timbers at home next Sunday Ultimately, unless the Whitecaps earn the most points over the next two games, their playoff fate will likely depend on a final day game with the LA Galaxy at Providence Park.

Although the Whitecaps are coming off a win, I wouldn’t describe their recent play as inspiring confidence Especially in the first half against San Jose, the Caps really struggled to find fluidity on offense, and stagnated as soon as they entered the opposing half Defensively, I thought the Whitecaps were actually pretty solid, barring a defensive error, although the Quakes were hardly offering as many advances as we’ve seen in the previous two games this season.

Even though Dos Santos has suggested he would look to make big changes due to the short rest, I hesitate to predict that we’ll see Theo Bair, Ryan Raposo, Patrick Metcalfe, Derek Cornelius and Cristian Gutierrez all in the starting lineup against Seattle On the contrary, I would expect MDS to stay with the same basic 4-4-2 we’ve seen recently, and mix up the rotation slightly, with a few better players coming off the bench

This would give the Whitecaps a nice mix of continuity, as well as the chance to get some of their best players off the bench in Montero and Adnan. I also got to see Tosaint Ricketts get another start, either on the wing or as a forward, depending on his recovery on Saturday. If the Whitecaps are to win this one I think they’ll need to get a solid second-half performance from some of the substitutes and do just enough early in the game to stay there.

In the end, I still think the difference in quality between these two sides (coupled with the short rest) will be too big for the Whitecaps to overcome.I’m predicting a 2-0 win for the Sounders, but hey, I’m am cheated before!

Vancouver Whitecaps FC, Seattle Sounders FC, MLS, Portland Timbers, Raúl Ruidíaz