Seattle Sounders vs. Santa Tecla | CONCACAF Champions League Match Preview

Franco Panizo

Seattle Sounders vs. Santa Tecla
2018 CONCACAF Champions League – Round of 16, Leg 2
CenturyLink Field - Seattle, Wash.
10 pm ET – March 1, 2018
WATCH: UDN, univisiondeportes.com, go90.com

The Seattle Sounders are reeling a bit right now, but some powerful reinforcements are on the way to try and help make the difference in a do-or-die game.

Down 2-1 to Santa Tecla in their CONCACAF Champions League Round of 16 series, the Sounders will look to turn things around when they host the Salvadoran club at CenturyLink Field on Thursday night. Seattle should have a few players available that did not play in the first leg, including Clint Dempsey and Magnus Wolff Eikrem, and that combined with Nicolas Lodeiro's sensational away goal in last week's first leg should give the Sounders the confidence to try and secure the necessary result.

Still, the loss of Jordan Morris is a big one. Morris was ruled out for all of 2018 with a torn right ACL suffered late in last week's showdown, and now Seattle will have to try an find a way to replace his speed in the attack as they search for a goal. It will not be easy, of course, but the Sounders have to dig themselves out of this hole if they want to gain some momentum before the start of the MLS season and avoid tournament elimination.

Seattle Sounders

Losing Morris hurts, but help is on the way. Dempsey should be back in the lineup after sitting out the opening leg, and he could be joined by the likes of Roman Torres, Victor Rodriguez, and Osvaldo Alonso if they recover from the injuries that kept them out last week. Even if they do not, head coach Brian Schmetzer will have a deeper arsenal to choose from as Eikrem and fellow midfielder Gustav Svensson should be available from the start for a Seattle team looking to turn this series around.

Suspended: N/A
Suspended after next caution: Jordy Delem
Injury Report: OUT: F – Jordan Morris (right torn ACL); QUESTIONABLE: M – Osvaldo Alonso (quad strain), D – Kelvin Leerdam (ankle sprain), M – Victor Rodriguez (quad strain), D – Roman Torres (leg),

Projected Starting XI
(4-2-3-1, right to left)
GK: Stefan Frei — Jordan McCrary, Tony Alfaro, Chad Marshall, Waylon Francis — Cristian Roldan, Gustav Svensson — Magnus Wolff Eikrem, Clint Dempsey, Nicolas Lodeiro — Will Bruin

Santa Tecla

If there was a key ingredient to Santa Tecla's victory last Thursday, it was the play of Gerson Mayen. The former Chivas USA player – yes, you read that correctly – caused problems for Seattle's back line and bagged a brace in El Salvador. He will again be tasked with helping to lead Santa Tecla's attack, which does not necessarily need a goal to advance but could use one to boost the club's chances of advancing to the quarterfinals of the competition.

Suspended: N/A
Suspended after next caution: Gerson Mayen
Injury Report: N/A

Projected Starting XI
(4-4-2, right to left)
GK: Joel Almeida — Bryan Tamacas, Yosimar Quinones, Roberto Dominguez, Juan Barahona — Fernando Quintanilla, Aldair Rivera, Gerson Mayen, Marlon Cornejo — Ricardinho, Wilma Torres

All-Time Series

This is the second-ever meeting between the Seattle Sounders and Santa Tecla.

CONCACAF Champions League history: Seattle Sounders – 4 appearances (2010/11, 2011/12, 2012/13, 2015/16) 14 wins, 14 losses, 5 ties (49 goals) … Santa Tecla - 1 appearance (2015/16) 1 win, 2 losses, 2 ties (5 goals)