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Seattle Reign Vs Chicago Red Stars: Week 14 Preview

By John Carollo III

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 07: Defender Tierna Davidson of the United States Women's National Team handles the ball in the game against Belgium at Banc of California Stadium on April 07, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. This was the seventh "Countdown to the Cup" game ahead of the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup, which kicks off on June 7th in France. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 07: Defender Tierna Davidson of the United States Women's National Team handles the ball in the game against Belgium at Banc of California Stadium on April 07, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. This was the seventh "Countdown to the Cup" game ahead of the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup, which kicks off on June 7th in France. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images) /
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The Chicago Red Stars travel to Tacoma to face an injury-ridden Seattle Reign, but will the projected sell-out crowd hinder their plans? Here is a Week 14 preview.

After playing one game at home for a record crowd, the Chicago Red Stars are off to Tacoma to face the Seattle Reign in front of another sell-out crowd. Having faced the Reign twice this season already, they look to continue their climb back up the table. The last two wins have put Chicago back into playoff position, but Seattle is just below them and will not be an easy out.

You would think that the team who took the previous week off would have more rested players. Not so for the Seattle Reign. They pretty much have everyone out injured. Jess Fishlock, after returning mid-season to provide a miracle for the team, just as suddenly blew out her knee and is out for the season. Joining her on the season-ending list is starting goalkeeper Michelle Betos. No worries in goal because they also have Australian number one, Lydia Williams. She’s also listed as out.

The return of USWNT star Megan Rapinoe will be sure to help, just as soon as she recovers from an injured Achilles. Might as well throw in an injury to Japan national team midfielder Rumi Utsugi too to fill things out. Long story short, Seattle has an injury issue, with 11 total players listed as unavailable due to injury. That’s going to be their biggest challenge.

For the Chicago Red Stars, all they have out officially is Danielle Colaprico, who they’ve listed there to just allow her to rest instead of traveling, and Maria Sánchez, who is still with the Mexican National Team. There are concerns about Tierna Davidson and Vanessa DiBernardo’s fitness, but these are not pressing worries. It’s possible for them to start, but letting Davidson rest would make the defense less complicated and there’s already so much talent in DiBernardo’s position that they would be safe letting her rest as well.

Onto the Seattle Reign’s actual form, the team had not lost since the early 3-0 loss to the Red Stars. That is, until a loss to the North Carolina Courage. It seems that losing Fishlock also meant losing a lot of creativity in attack. The win against Portland came from a shot in the dark from a scrambled free-kick and they were on the back foot for most of the match.

However, the Seattle Reign still have some darn good attackers in Bev Yanez, Bethany Balcer, and the returning Jodie Taylor. While Fishlock provided most of the creativity during the World Cup stretch, that was only because Jodie Taylor wasn’t there to do it herself. With Taylor back, the Reign could possibly stop themselves before it gets too bad.

The Chicago Red Stars will definitely need to keep that sort of thing in mind because the defense has looked shaky of late. While one of the more solid and consistent bits of the team during the horrible World Cup stretch, we’re seeing that once again Davidson needs more time with this team and Naughton has to communicate better. With Julie Ertz and Alyssa Naeher’s return, we should see better organization back there, but it may continue to cost Chicago just at it did early in that NC game.

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On a brighter note for the Chicago Red Stars, they also have a high-powered offense. Even with the loss of players like Alyssa Mautz and Michele Vasconcelos, the Red Stars have amassed a pool of talent that is almost unrivalled across the NWSL. The piece that seemed to be missing from it was surprisingly Morgan Brian, who didn’t see much action in the World Cup, much less was even expected to be selected to the USWNT squad.

It may be safe to say now that it’s very possible that the Chicago team was set up to run through her during the World Cup, but without her it couldn’t click. Now, it seems like she has brought some energy back into the attack and it’s going to be exciting to see her do more.

Projected XI:

Chicago Red Stars (4-3-3): Alyssa Naeher; Arin Wright, Sarah Gorden, Katie Naughton, Casey Short; Morgan Brian, Julie Ertz, Savannah McCaskill; Yuki Nagasato, Sam Kerr, Katie Johnson

North Carolina Courage (4-2-3-1): Casey Murphy; Theresa Nielsen, Megan Oyster, Lauren Barnes, Stephanie Catley; Allie Long, Addison Steiner; Ifemoa Onumonu, Beverly Yanez, Bethany Balcer; Jodie Taylor

Next. Chicago Red Stars Vs North Carolina Courage: 3 things we learned. dark

How To Watch:

Sunday, July 28th, 3:00 PM CDT; At Cheney Stadium in Tacoma, WA, on NBC Sportsnet Chicago, and online with the Yahoo Sports App

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