Tuesday’s match against the Philadelphia Union will be a bit different than virtually any other match the Seattle Sounders have played. As you probably remember, this match started on March 9 but was called off in the 6th minute due to heavy rains rendering the field unplayable.
Rather than start over, though, MLS rules dictate that the match needs to continue from where it left off. That means that when the game restarts on Tuesday at 4:30 PM, it will begin in the 6th minute. Not only that, the lineups and rosters are supposed to be the same. Of course, that’s not entirely possible and there are rules that allow for accommodations. Here’s what that means:
For the Sounders
This was the lineup and roster for the Sounders for the first meeting:
The most obvious change is that Xavier Arreaga is no longer available after he was traded to the New England Revolution last week. His spot can be filled by anyone who was on the gameday roster without counting as one of the club's five permitted substitutions. That most likely means we’ll see Yeimar, but it’s at least possible Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer could go with Jon Bell.
Either way, the bench spot occupied by player who moves into Xavi's spot can then be filled by a player who was on the active roster at the time, but who wasn’t otherwise available for this game. Among the veterans who traveled with the Sounders who could be picked are Albert Rusnák and João Paulo. There’s actually a pretty good chance that both of those players will make it onto the gameday roster, though, as Danny Musovski left the Sounders’ game against D.C. United with a hip injury and is unlikely to be available, which would open up a second bench spot.
It’s also possible Stefan Frei could be named to the roster, but that seems highly unlikely as he would be a third goalkeeper and far less likely to feature than any field player.
The good news is that the Sounders planned for this and among the guaranteed starters, only Obed Vargas (70 minutes), Cristian Roldan (90) and Josh Atencio (90) played more than a half against D.C. United. Yeimar and Bell also played the whole game. Alex Roldan, who was given an additional game suspension after being red-carded against the Whitecaps, also had his eligibility for this game confirmed.
For the Union
This is what their lineup and roster looked like on March 9:
There will be a few changes for the Union, too, according the the Philadelphia Inquirer. Among the starters, forward Markus Anderson has already been ruled out with a quadriceps injury. The only forward on the bench is the relatively inexperienced Chris Donovan. Matt Real, who was on the bench, will also be unavailable as he’s been loaned to the Colorado Springs Switchbacks.
The most obvious player to be added to the gameday roster is Julian Carranza, who has a team-leading eight goals in 10 appearances across all competitions this year. Leon Flach is apparently the other player most likely to be added. Players like Carranza who are newly added to the bench could also be substituted into the game prior to it resuming, but at the expense of counting against the team's five substitutions for the match.
There could be two more changes to the Union’s starting lineup, too. Goalkeeper Andre Blake and centerback Damion Lowe are both listed as questionable and have been deemed “game-time decisions” by head coach Jim Curtin. They would likely be replaced in the starting lineup by goalkeeper Oliver Semmle and centerback Jakob Glesnes. Replacing Semmle’s roster spot is somewhat complicated by an injury to third-string goalkeeper Holden Trent and the fact that reserve-team goalkeeper Andrew Rick has already used three of his four short-term loan opportunities.
Among the Union’s guaranteed starters, Jack Elliott (90), Daniel Gazdag (90), Quinn Sullivan (71), Jose Martinez (87) and Nathan Harriel (89) all played significant minutes. Glesnes and Blake also played 90 minutes.
