The rivals shared eight goals in a 4-4 draw in April, 20014
Sunday night at Century Link Field will pit rivals coming off deserved road wins. However, each win came with potential weaknesses being exposed. Sigi Schmid and Caleb Porter will look at the tape and see areas where their side can have success in the match.
Last Saturday in Colorado, the Sounders looked vulnerable defensively in the first half. Using the altitude to their advantage, the Rapids pressed Seattle around the pitch preventing the Sounders attacking four from turning towards goal and intercepting the ball around the center circle.
After winning the ball back, the Rapids were able to find space between the lines since the Seattle back four was hesitant in taking up a higher line. The central duo of Osvaldo Alonso and Andy Rose can at times be overly dynamic and get caught upfield.
This left Chad Marshall exposed, and he was twice forced to come into the midfield and make a risky challenge to prevent a potential counter attack, earning a yellow card in the 14th minute and a risky second foul in the 38th. He is now suspended for the match with Zach Scott likely to start.
Seattle had to feel good not playing well but leading 2-1 at the break.
In the second half, Seattle kept their two banks of four tighter and the 
Rapids pressing in midfield dropped off, most likely due to fatigue. As seen on the Opta chalkboard, Colorado’s interceptions around the center circle trailed off in the second half.
After the match, Sigi Schmid addressed this issue and how they corrected it:
‘We need to get our lines of four together so we’re defending as a block of eight. … When you’re on our end of the field, you don’t want to be free, you want to be marking people, you want to get tight to people. And I thought we did that better in the second half.”
The screenshots right show the successful adjustments made at the break.
Portland will look at this potential vulnerable area and be optimistic that they can have better success than Colorado. After experimenting with a 4-4-2, they opted for a return to the 4-2-3-1 last weekend in New York. Darlington Nagbe will be tasked with finding these pockets of space and Osvaldo Alonso will try and stick tight to him.
Nagbe has been in top form this year and stood out in the second half last week. He ranks 4th in MLS with 2.7 key passes per game, 2nd in the league with 3.9 dribbles past per game and has been the leagues 6th most fouled per game (according to whoscored.com).
For Nagbe to be at his best, he will need the other members of the front four to get close enough where they can combine. Look for Dairon Asprilla to get a start after impressing off the bench and providing a mix of wide play with the ability to tuck inside.
At the other end of the pitch, Seattle will have a tough task in breaching an improved Portland defense. The back four is helped out by the central shield of Diego Chara and Jack Jewsubry, who rarely ventured forward, thus are always in a position to screen.
The Sounders have amassed four quality attackers but seem to play like a broken team. The front four attacks and the back six defends. The fullbacks are less dynamic in joining the attack after the departure of Deandre Yedlin to Tottenham. This is not necessarily a bad thing since the Sounders have four great attacking players.
Obafemi Martins and Clint Dempsey spearhead the attack and make a versatile strike partnership. Dempsey tends to drop into midfield to try and help build up play while Martins is more likely to venture out wide and combine with Marco Pappa and Lamar Neagle. They also take turns in making runs in behind which stretches the oppositions lines vertically.
An underrated matchup will be out wide between Alvas Powell and Lamar Neagle. Powell has a hot head streak in him and spent too much of last weeks match in a narrow starting position.
However, the stats for the young Jamaican are impressive. He leads the league in tackles per game with 5.1 and is fourth amongst defenders in dribbling past per game (according to whoscored.com). While his service needs to improve, he will make Lamar Neagle aware that he has defensive responsibilities.
Neagle, on the other side, has become the perfect utility man for Seattle. In Los Angeles he played up top and caused issues running the channels and finding space behind a high Galaxy back four.
In Colorado he started on the left and scored two. The first was in transition where he cut onto his right foot and curled it into the top corner. The second was a central run between the defense spotted perfectly by Marco Pappa. His emergence into a legitimate third scoring option lowers the burden to on the two designated players and stretches a defense across the pitch. His speed has added to an already dangerous side on the counter.
The Sounders will look to win the match in transition. If they can complete quick vertical passes to the front four and catch the Timbers fullbacks out of position, scoring chances will follow. Portland need more out of their strikers. Fanendo Adi tends to get too involved with the emotion and officiating of a game. His lack of decisiveness inside the box has led to missing some easy chances.
Make sure to follow along on twitter this weekend as I will be live tweeting the match as well as other big games around the world @kpngacleansheet.
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Sounders v Timbers – A preview from Portland
