The Vancouver Whitecaps and Sporting Kansas City represent two extremes as they gear up to meet Saturday night in Kansas City, Kan.
It’s a matchup between the Western Conference’s top team and bottom team.
Vancouver (12-4-4, 40 points) is 2-1-1 this month in MLS play, coming off last week’s 5-0 romp past visiting Dallas. The Whitecaps own an MLS-best plus-27 goal differential.
“Hopefully, we’re able to keep it up,” Vancouver coach Jesper Sorensen said.
Kansas City (4-14-3, 15 points) is on a five-match winless streak (0-4-1). There’s an ongoing roster overhaul that might take time to work for Kansas City.
“We have to give them time,” coach Raphael Wicky said. “We have to give these players time to integrate … We build a culture together.”
Vancouver forward Brian White (quad ailment) and midfielder Jeevan Badwal (personal issue) missed training time this week, but they should be available.
“We just don’t want to force things,” Sorensen said.
On Badwal, Sorensen said: “He is good to go. He’ll be ready for the game.”
Kansas City dealt forward Dejan Joveljic to the Seattle Sounders this week. He led the team with eight goals — more than twice as many as anyone else on the roster.
With Joveljic’s departure, Stephen Afrifa (eight goals in 62 appearances) becomes Kansas City’s top scoring threat.
Following that deal, Kansas City added midfielder Owen Wolff in a trade with Austin FC. He had 10 goals and 23 assists across 147 appearances for Austin, where last year he was the club’s Offensive Player of the Year. He’s the son of Kansas City soccer icon Josh Wolff.
He’s listed as out (knee) for the Whitecaps match.
“I’m planning on having him with the team,” Wicky said. “It’s more about giving him time and training with his teammates.”
“We believe strongly in him,” Wicky added, embracing his potential versatility. “Owen is very comfortable in the pocket in between the lines.”
Vancouver topped Kansas City 3-0 on April 17 on goals by Emmanuel Sabbi, Bruno Caicedo and Thomas Muller.
The rematch brings a bit of a mystery for the Whitecaps.
“I don’t know if some of the (Kansas City) players they signed will be participating or not,” Sorensen said. “… We have to go play our style of game and hopefully that will be enough to secure a good result.”
–Field Level Media
