Seattle Sounders FC face off against Western Conference leaders Chivas USA Saturday April 18 at the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles. The match will be Seattle's second away game after the team defeated Toronto FC 2-0 on April 4 at BMO Field.Both teams will be missing players due to red-card suspensions. Sounders goalkeeper Kasey Keller will be serving a one-match suspension after seeing red against Kansas City. Chivas midfielder Paulo Nagamura is also suspended after he received two yellow cards in the game against the L.A. Galaxy last Saturday.
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Sigi Schmid has yet to name the starting goalkeeper for Saturday's match. Ben Dragavon played 60 minutes in goal after Keller was sent off last weekend, however Chris Eylander is also in the mix for a starting role after coming back from a knee sprain.
Chivas USA goalkeeper Zach Thorton will be making his fifth start and has already made 17 saves for his team. Thorton, a 12-year veteran of MLS, is looking for his third shutout of the season against a Seattle team that has scored seven goals in four games.
Starting lineups
The Sounders were held scoreless for the first time last weekend by Kansas City, and the squad will hope to get back among the goals. Schmid may go with a similar line up to the match against Kansas City with Freddie Ljungberg and Fredy Montero sharing the attacking midfield role. Brad Evans, Osvaldo Alonso and Sebastian Le Toux in the midfield and James Riley, Tyrone Marshall, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado and Zach Scott in defense.
Chivas USA's potential starting line up includes Thorton in goal, Shavar Thomas, Carey Talley, Jonathan Bornstein and Mariano Trujillo in defense. Jesse Marsch, Sacha Kljestan, Gerson Mayen and Alecko Eskandarian in the midfield. Eduardo Lillingston and Atiba Harris, who have combined for three goals this season, will lead the Chivas front line.
A match of the top two teams in MLS in mid-April highlights a busy Week 5. A win for either team gives them the most points in the league and solidifies top spot in MLS. This game is another good test to see how the Sounders execute away from their own stadium.
Reach Jesse Amorratanasuchad at nextseasonsports@gmail.com
