The Seattle Sounders have demonstrated the ability to string together offensive sequences. That puts another area of concern on a growing list for Charlotte FC.
Neither team has been on much of a recent roll going into Saturday night’s meeting in Charlotte.
Seattle (8-6-3, 27 points) is 1-3-1 in its last five games. The Sounders have threatened offensively, but an inability to finish has been one of the glitches.
“Someone is going to start scoring,” Seattle coach Brian Schmetzer said. “We have too many good players not to.”
Charlotte (6-8-3, 21 points) has lost three of its last four matches, including setbacks in its last two outings by a combined score of 5-2 vs. the Philadelphia Union and Columbus Crew.
Keeping the Sounders out of rhythm is a priority for Charlotte coach Christian Lattanzio, whose team has surrendered a league-high 30 goals this season.
“The important thing is to put Seattle under pressure,” Lattanzio said. “If you leave them to dictate the game, it’s going to be more difficult to limit them.”
Lattanzio said the mentality of his players is improving even if sometimes the results aren’t matching that. Karol Swiderski has scored in two of the last three games for Charlotte.
“He has the ability to find the goal and to be sharp around the box,” Lattanzio said. “Having Karol in good shape is important to us. There is no getting away from that.”
Charlotte goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina is still trying to find a rhythm with the new schemes after missing the first couple of months of the season.
“I need to find my form,” Kahlina said.
With that, Charlotte might benefit from a full week off since its last game. Combined with U.S. Open Cup games, Charlotte played nine times in less than a month’s span.
“It’s good that we have the whole week for the train,” Kahlina said. “It’s nice to have the rest and just to train.”
Seattle is eligible to have defender Alex Roldan back after his one-game suspension for yellow-card accumulation. Schmetzer said that forward Jordan Morris (groin) is cleared to play after going through practices this week.
This marks the only scheduled meeting of the season between Seattle and Charlotte. The Sounders won 2-1 last year when they met.
–Field Level Media
