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We’re not quite done yet. Let’s take a quick look at two more massive matches.
Once more, with feeling
It’s time to talk about match-winners again. I don’t think we really need to dig into it a ton because we’ve been digging into it all year when we’ve talked about Houston. It *feels* like they don’t have a singular game-changer in attack and that absence puts a cap on their ceiling. In practice, that hasn’t stopped them from winning the US Open Cup and hosting a Conference Semifinal. If there is a cap, we haven’t hit it yet.
That being said, if you were picking a player to score tonight, you’d pick Sporting KC’s Alan Pulido first. Then you’d take Sporting KC’s Johnny Russell. Then you’d go…Sporting KC’s Daniel Sallói. At that point, you’d have a tough time deciding whether to go with Houston’s Amine Bassi via a penalty or Houston’s Corey Baird, but you could maybe consider throwing SKC’s Erik Thommy in there too. At the very least, we’re looking at three SKC players before we’re really even considering a Houston player, especially if we’re only thinking about non-penalty goals.
That’s a distinct advantage for Sporting. There’s no getting around that. Fortunately, for the Dynamo, there are a few things working in their favor. First and foremost, they’re at home. That’s always going to be the biggest factor. Because MLS. Second, Sporting KC will be dealing with a key absence. Left back Logan Ndenbe tore his ACL against St. Louis. He somehow played nearly an entire half with that injury, but he won’t be available for the rest of the playoffs.
Ndenbe made 18 starts this year for SKC and found a way to score twice in Round One. He’s been good. It’s not a death blow to SKC by any stretch, but in the same way you don’t try new recipes on Thanksgiving, you don’t want to be trying new recipes in a single-elimination playoff game. Sporting KC will be forced into changes here. That could be enough to provide an opening for Houston. It kind of feels like Houston need it to provide an opening. Otherwise, SKC might have too much firepower to overcome, even at home.
You don’t need to be sold
Y’all, it’s Seattle-LAFC. I don’t even know what to add. We know how Seattle are going to play. We know how LAFC are going to play. There’s a good chance Seattle have an advantage in midfield. There’s a good chance Dénis Bouanga does something astounding. It’s hard to envision this being anything but the kind of game where both teams have a relatively equal amount of chances and the ball just decides to go in for one team more than the other.
Whoever that is will be the favorite to go to MLS Cup. Again. We’re talking about the two most successful teams in the West for over five years now. Nothing we say is going to raise the stakes. They’re already as high as they can be. You don’t need to be sold on this one. It’s going to be as good as it gets in this league.
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