After playing to a scoreless draw up in British Columbia, the Seattle Sounders have to feel pretty good about themselves. They're unbeaten in 13 straight matches at CenturyLink Field, and a win over the Vancouver Whitecaps would put them into the Western Conference Finals. That said, with neither team scoring at B.C. Place, we're one moment of brilliance from Vancouver away from Seattle being forced to scramble for goals.
This MLS duel will go down Thursday, November 2, 2017, at 10:30 p.m. ET at CenturyLink Field. The match will be televised live on FOX Sports 1.
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Seattle Sounders
Vancouver Whitecaps
Draw
Over/Under
Odds Analysis
The Whitecaps shouldn't be all that disappointed with their scoreless draw at home. They were only relatively narrow favorites to claim the advantage in this home-and-home series in the first place, and the fact that they weren't beaten at least leaves them in it with a shout.
That said, these are going to be long odds they face of surviving CenturyLink Field. Vancouver hasn't scored a goal in Seattle in consecutive matches, including a 3-0 drubbing at the hands of the Sounders just a few short weeks ago that helped taken it out of the top spot in the Western Conference.
Seattle is going to be odds-on to win this match, but we have to remember that a score draw is every bit as good as a win for the Whitecaps after the scoreless tie in Vancouver. That's the one perk about playing to drab 90 minutes in the first leg if you're the team had to host. One goal on the road can change everything at that point.
The First Leg
There are times that 0-0 draws are captivating matches. Then there are times that those same scoreless draws feel like horrible events to sit through. The first 90 minutes of this home-and-home series certainly represented a lot more of the latter than the former.
There was only a total of 12 shots between the two teams in the 90 minutes, just one of which actually reached the target. Stefan Frei had a total of four touches for the entire match outside of goal kicks, and it's a wonder if he's going to do much more than that in this fixture.
Seattle played the whole 90 minutes close to the vest, refusing to allow the Whitecaps to get out and run as they would prefer to do on the counterattack. Vancouver's true weakness of not having a legitimate finisher showed in those first 90 minutes, and it's going to be tough to see it ultimately putting one in the back of the net in this match.
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Let's not forget that Clint Dempsey was suspended for this opening match of the affair thanks to his red card he picked up against Colorado in the regular season finale. The Sounders needed to take more of a defensive shape in Vancouver anyway, but this is going to be the opportunity to ultimately start to go forward.
If this really is the end for Dempsey as reports have indicated could be the case, he isn't going to want to go out against one of his arch rivals. With fresh legs, Dempsey could team up to make Nicolas Lodeiro all the more dangerous.
Don't be stunned if it only takes one moment of brilliance between these two to make all the difference in this affair. Seattle worked incredibly hard push this series back home scoreless, and it will have no problem getting out of the whole thing alive if it can draw first blood relatively early in the return leg as well.
MLS Odds: Seattle 1, Vancouver 0
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