Here are the lineups for Thursday night’s MLS Western Conference Championship game between Seattle Sounders FC and the Houston Dynamo at CenturyLink Field. Seattle comes in with the advantage having won the first leg 2-0 at Houston on Nov. 21:
SEATTLE
Lineup (4-2-3-1): Stefan Frei; Kelvin Leerdam, Gustav Svensson, Chad Marshall, Nouhou; Cristian Roldan, Nicolas Lodeiro (c); Victor Rodriguez, Clint Dempsey, Joevin Jones; Will Bruin.
Bench: Tyler Miller, Tony Alfaro, Jordy Delem, Henry Wingo, Harry Shipp, Lamar Neagle, Jordan Morris.
Notes: Seattle plays without key central defender Roman Torres, as the Panamanian international is suspended because of yellow-card accumulation. The Sounders fill the hole by switching Svensson to defense from central midfield, with Lodeiro dropping into Svensson’s spot from attacking midfield and Rodriguez moving into the starting lineup. Frei returns after sitting out the first leg because of a hamstring injury, and Morris is on the bench after missing the previous nine games because of a hamstring injurty of his own. However, midfielder Osvaldo Alonso is not a part of the 18 after being listed as questionable because of a quadriceps injury.
HOUSTON
Lineup (4-2-3-1): Joe Willis; DaMarcus Beasley (c), Leonardo, Adolfo Machado, Dylan Remick; Juan David Cabezas, Eric Alexander; Alex, Vicente Sanchez, Tomas Martinez, Mauro Manotas.
Bench: Calle Brown, Erick Torres, Andrew Wenger, Ricardo Clark, Kevin Garcia, Jose Escalante, Boniek Garcia.
Notes: Houston is also missing an important player to suspension as winger Alberth Elis (10 goals during the regular season) is out because of yellow-card accumulation, while defender Jalil Anibaba also misses out through suspension after beging red carded in the first leg. With defender A.J. DeLaGarza out with a knee injury, the Dynamo are down to their third choice at right back in former Sounder Remick. Leonardo returns to central defense in place of Philippe Senderos, who isn’t in the 18, while Sanchez comes into the lineup for Elis. Manotas (10 goals, five assists) is the danger man, while Torres (14 goals) will provide a threat from the bench.
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