Thursday, July 17

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Sports Mole previews Sunday's MLS clash between San Diego and Vancouver Whitecaps, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

It is first versus second in the Western Conference as San Diego FC and Vancouver Whitecaps go head to head at the Snapdragon Stadium on Sunday morning.

Twenty-five-year-old striker Milan Iloski, now on loan at Nordsjaelland, hit four goals to fire the Southern California outfit to a thrilling 5-3 victory when both sides met at BC Place in June and they will look to complete the double over the visitors this weekend.

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Match preview

San Diego suffered consecutive home defeats for the first time in MLS history as they were beaten 1-0 by Toronto FC when the two teams squared off on Thursday morning.

Having lost 4-3 against Houston Dynamo at the Snapdragon Stadium on July 6, Theo Corbeanu’s 20th-minute penalty left San Diego empty handed yet again as Toronto FC held their own to secure just their fifth win of the campaign.

Sandwiched between the two home losses, Mikey Varas’s men made it four road wins on the bounce on July 13, when they edged out Chicago Fire 2-1 at Soldier Field courtesy of a first-half brace from Danish forward Anders Dreyer.

Despite their recent slump, San Diego have been a joy to watch in their debut MLS campaign as they sit first in the Western Conference standings and just four points behind Philadelphia Union at the top of the Supporters' Shield table.

On the other hand, Vancouver Whitecaps turned in a dominant team display on Thursday morning as they eased to a 3-0 victory over Houston Dynamo at the Shell Energy Stadium.

Emmanuel Sabbi opened the scoring on the fourth-minute mark to hand the visitors a dream start to the tie before Sebastian Berhalter and Brian White added to the scoresheet to cap off a dominant team display.

This was a much-needed result for Jesper Sorensen’s side, who had lost four of their previous five league matches — conceding 13 goals and scoring five — with a 1-0 victory over Los Angeles FC on June 30 being the exception.

Vancouver Whitecaps have won 12 of their 22 MLS matches so far while losing five and claiming five draws to collect 41 points and sit second in the West, just one point behind this weekend’s hosts.

Despite their dominant display against Houston Dynamo, the Whitecaps’ recent form on the road offers little optimism heading into Sunday’s clash as they have lost four of their most recent six away matches, including a 5-0 hammering at the hands of Cruz Azul in the CONCACAF Champions Cup final on June 2.

San Diego MLS form:

Vancouver Whitecaps MLS form:

Vancouver Whitecaps form (all competitions):

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Team News

San Diego remain without several players down the spine of the team as Alejandro Alvarado Jr and Willy Kumado have been ruled out through knee and hip injuries respectively.

Danish forward Marcus Ingvartsen has missed each of the last five games since coming off injured against Minnesota United in June and the 29-year-old will play no part in this weekend’s clash.

Veteran midfielder Anibal Godoy is also set to sit out his third consecutive game through injury, while Andres Reyes continues his long road to full fitness after picking up an injury in May.

Like the host, Vancouver Whitecaps have their fair share of injury concerns as Ali Ahmed and Scottish midfielder Ryan Gauld are currently recuperating from ankle and knee injuries respectively.

Canadian defender Sam Adekugbe is set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines after sustaining an Achilles tendon injury in June while Giuseppe Bovalina has been ruled out since May due to illness.

San Diego possible starting lineup:

Sisniega; Verhoeven, Mcvey, Pilcher, Negri; Valakari, Tverskov, De la Torre; Dreyer, Angel, Mighten

Vancouver Whitecaps possible starting lineup:

Takaoka; Laborda, Utvik, Veselinovic, Johnson; Priso-Mbongue, Berhalter, Sabbi; Ocampo, White, Rios

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We say: San Diego 2-1 Vancouver Whitecaps

 

With just one point separating San Diego and Vancouver Whitecaps at the top of the conference standings, we anticipate an end-to-end affair on Sunday as both sides look to get the better of each other.

Despite their recent woes at the Snapdragon Stadium, we predict Varas’s men will make the most of their home advantage this weekend and see off the Whitecaps, who have struggled for consistency on their travels.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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