Sporting Kansas City will look to stop their losing skid this week as they make the trip up to Seattle to face the Sounders. They are currently on a 6 match winless run that has seen them only get 1 point since opening day.
The good news is that Omar Bravo, the clubs designated player, might return from an injury that has seen him miss the last 5 matches. More than likely he will come off of the bench for a few minutes this week and work himself back to full fitness.
The club will look towards Bravo and other forwards to start combining better and scoring goals that made Sporting KC one of the highest scoring clubs in the first 3 weeks of the regular season. The forwards have slumped recently only scoring 3 goals in the last 4 matches.
In the starting lineup for this week I would look to see Jimmy Nielson remain on the bench. Eric Kronberg was a surprise starter last week vs. Los Angeles and with Nielson playing Tuesday in a reserve league match; I think it’s safe to say that Kronberg impressed manager Peter Vermes enough to play again this week.
I think that the backline will be unchanged from the last few weeks. This lineup includes Espinoza, Julio Cesar, Aurelien Collin, and Michael Harrington starting. I would expect Stojec, Auvray, and Arnaud starting in the midfield. This would involve Graham Zusi moving back to the bench.
Up top, I expect to see Kei Kamara on the wing, and Teal Bunbury in the Center. It has been a few weeks now since Ryan Smith came back from injury and it is probably the right time for manager Peter Vermes to give him a start on the wing. C.J. Sapong has cooled off since a hot start and will probably be coming off the bench for the second week in a row.
Sporting are saying they are not in desperation mode yet. However, maybe they should be, or at least consider it now as the first few losses can be written off to bad luck and playing on the road. The losses keep piling up and are starting to become more and more inexcusable. A loss this weekend, and manager Peter Vermes better get an ice pack or two to cool off the hot seat that will surely come from yet another loss.
PREDICTION: SEATTLE 2- SPORTING 2
(image courtesy of sportingkc.com)
