The Seattle Sounders are hosting FC Dallas on Wednesday (7 p.m. PT; JOEtv, Prime Video, 950 KJR AM, El Rey 1360 AM | TICKETS) in their first meeting of the season. Here are three matchups to watch:
Cristian Roldan vs. Ryan Hollingshead
Even if Roldan doesn’t start — he is coming off a United States national team win over Mexico in the Concacaf Gold Cup Final on Sunday — he’ll be just as influential as a second-half substitute and swinging the match in Seattle’s favor. U.S. Head Coach Gregg Berhalter referred to Roldan as his “ace in the hole” and kept deploying him as a game-changing sub throughout the Gold Cup with his high work rate and ability to unbalance defenses. Look for him to make his trademark central winger runs down the Sounders’ righthand side in the attacking third and force Hollingshead, who has been one of the best left backs in MLS the past two seasons, to stay honest and track back defensively.
João Paulo vs. Jesús Ferreira
João Paulo is in the MLS MVP discussion for a reason. He has been Mr. Everything for the Sounders this season, especially in the absence of Nicolás Lodeiro, consistently having an impact on the offensive end as a deep-lying playmaker and on the defensive side as a destroyer. He’ll need to be a little bit of both again on Wednesday, while paying close attention to Ferreira and making sure he can’t provide service to…
Xavier Arreaga vs. Ricardo Pepi
FC Dallas’ 18-year-old Homegrown Pepi comes into Wednesday as one of the most in-form forwards in the league. Two weeks ago, he became the youngest player in MLS history to record a hat trick and is tied for fifth in the Golden Boot race with eight goals in just 863 minutes. The Sounders have given up what Head Coach Brian Schmetzer referred to as “soft goals” the past couple games, and it’ll be up to Arreaga in the middle of the center back trio to make sure that Pepi has a body on him at all times.
