Today’s game
Opponent: Chicago Fire
When: 5:30 p.m.
Where: Toyota Park; Bridgeview, Ill.
TV: KONG (Ch. 6/16)
Radio: KIRO (97.3 FM)
Scouting report
Sounders FC (5-4-5) goes back on the road a confident team after last week’s win, which halted Real Salt Lake’s league-best home unbeaten streak at 29 games. Even better for Seattle, tonight’s opponent, the Chicago Fire, is playing so bad it fired its coach early in the week.
After a slow start to the season, Seattle got its first win by beating the Fire at Qwest Field, and is 5-2-3 going back to that game. Chicago, meanwhile, is winless in nine straight, hence the firing. But despite the Fire’s struggles, playing a team that just changed coaches could be tricky for Seattle. Not only could Chicago take on a different style under Frank Klopas, but the Fire should also be a motivated team following a coaching change.
“You never want to play the team that changes its coach in the next game, because there always seems to be some sort of new motivation,” said goalkeeper Kasey Keller, who played with Klopas with the U.S. national team.
As usual, Seattle will be a bit short-handed against the Fire. In addition to the players with long-term injuries, Sounders FC will also be without midfielder Alvaro Fernandez, who didn’t make the trip after suffering a hamstring injury in last week’s game. Who will replace Fernandez remains a mystery, though one possibility is up and comer Lamar Neagle, who scored his first career goal last week after coming on for Fernandez.
The other big lineup question involves forward Fredy Montero. Schmid called out the team’s highest-paid player following a midweek loss to Dallas, then kept him out of the starting lineup for the Salt Lake game. Schmid did say this week that Montero did some good things off the bench in that game, but that he was still deciding on whether or not to put Montero back in the staring lineup.
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