Vancouver Whitecaps v Seattle Sounders: Sartini challenges players to get into postseason mentality
Vancouver Whitecaps clinched their playoff place at the weekend, and Vanni Sartini does not want his players to play differently against Seattle Sounders.
The Whitecaps may be winless in their last three matches, but their 1-1 draw with Portland Timbers on Saturday was enough to secure their place in the postseason for the third time in the last four seasons.
They are currently seventh in the Western Conference, but Sartini is hopeful they can return to winning ways to push higher up the table.
"We have the luck to be already qualified, so even though it's not like a do or die, we can't be scared," Sartini said.
"Now it's all about the prize that is in front of us. And the prize will hopefully make us perform in a way that is with no restraint, with no fear, with a lot of confidence and going there to try to win.”
"It's all about trying to get into that [postseason] kind of mentality and habits of being a team that can play and win games. We want to try to become playoff winners."
Meanwhile, Seattle, who are unbeaten in four, sit three points and two places above their opponents ahead of Wednesday's meeting.
They ground out a 1-0 victory over Houston Dynamo last time out, and now Brian Schmetzer is aiming to find consistency after securing their own playoff place.
"We're going to play our best team against Vancouver and then Colorado," he said.
"There's no more experimenting. We need to get some consistency and make sure the 11 players I believe are the best continue to grow together as a group."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Vancouver Whitecaps – Brian White
Brian White has scored 15 goals in back-to-back seasons after only Camilo Sanvezzo (22 in 2013) hit that mark in the Whitecaps first 12 MLS campaigns.
White joins Denis Bouanga and Cucho Hernandez as the only three players with 15 goals in each of the last two MLS seasons.
Seattle Sounders – Paul Rothrock
Paul Rothrock's goal in Seattle's 1-0 win over Houston on Saturday was the 23rd by an American player for the Sounders this regular season.
Only Colorado Rapids (30) have had more goals scored by American players in 2024.
MATCH PREDICTION: VANCOUVER WHITECAPS WIN
The Whitecaps have lost only one of their six meetings with Seattle since September 2022 (W3 D2). Prior to that, Seattle had won 10 of the previous 14 meetings (D4) between the sides.
Vancouver have lost only two of their last 12 regular-season matches (W6 D4) dating back to late June. The Whitecaps conceded eight total goals in the two defeats (four in each match) while allowing nine total goals in the other 10 matches in that time.
Meanwhile, Seattle have won seven of their last 11 away matches in all competitions (D1 L3), including a 4-0 win at Columbus Crew in their last away match. The Sounders had won just seven of their previous 34 on the road prior to this run.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Vancouver Whitecaps – 41.2%
Draw – 26.7%
Seattle Sounders – 32.1%
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