MLS: Five Games To Watch On The Opening Weekend Of 2020
By Matt Coles
3. Vancouver Whitecaps vs. Sporting Kansas City
Our third match of the weekend pits the bottom two teams from the Western Conference against each other, with both hoping they have improved somewhat on last year’s performances.
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The Vancouver Whitecaps, who endured one of the worst seasons in their MLS history as they finished 12th and last in the West, finishing ahead of only FC Cincinnati in the Supporters’ Shield standings, host Sporting Kansas City, who will want to vastly improve on their 2019 campaign, where they finished just one place above Vancouver in 11th. That was a huge downturn on their form from the previous year after reaching the postseason in 2018. It was arguably one of the worst drop-offs in the 25-year history of MLS.
It has been almost two and a half years since Vancouver last defeated Sporting KC in a league match, but since then, they have shipped goals against Saturday’s opponents. SKC have scored 14 goals in their last four matches, including a 6-0 drubbing on home soil in April 2018. Four of the last five matches between the two sides have also featured a red card, with Vancouver going down to nine men in that six-goal game two seasons ago.
Can SKC return to the form that they had in 2018? Will Alan Pulido start from the off, and if so, will he have an immediate impact for Sporting? Can Vancouver show signs of promise after a dismal year in 2019? Saturday evening will tell us many things about how the season will pan out for these two sides.