Seattle Sounders dealt Héber injury blow
Seattle Sounders FC head coach Brian Schmetzer confirmed Thursday that Héber will miss around 2-4 weeks after suffering a left hamstring strain in training. The news comes just before Seattle travel for arguably Matchday 3’s marquee game, a Saturday evening visit to FC Cincinnati (7:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass).
Sign up for The Daily Kickoff in your inbox! The Daily Kickoff is more than an article – it can be delivered to your email account as well.
Somehow we’re already three weeks into this. Somehow we’re three weeks into this and we’ve learned nothing. Good news though: that will only be true for about 28 more weeks. We’re so close to understanding what’s happening in the 2023 season. Here are a few things to keep an eye on in Matchday 3 as we inch a little closer to figuring out if any of these teams are actually good or bad at soccer.
By the time you’re reading this, it will probably be about time for kickoff as Charlotte FC host Atlanta United. If it’s already past noon ET stop reading this. Go watch the game. Why are you still here reading a preview for a game that’s either currently or about to be currently in progress? This is like whipping out your phone in a movie theater to watch the trailer of a movie you’re already watching. Just watch the actual movie.
Anyway, if it hasn’t started yet, you should know you’re about to see one of the best soccer environments of the weekend. Charlotte will put upwards of 30,000 fans in the stands today and Atlanta United are bringing 1,000-plus fans of their own up I-85. It is tough to get traveling contingents together like you see in other leagues because other leagues are played in countries roughly the size of the state of Georgia. When you get a chance to have two fanbases making their voices heard in the same MLS game, it feels special.
On top of that, you have a relatively intriguing game. Especially if Atlanta are able to roll out new DP striker Giorgos Giakoumakis for 60 minutes or so. At that point, thanks to Charlotte’s Enzo Copetti, we’ll have two new DP strikers on the field and two new DP strikers nicknamed “The Tank” in various languages. That’s must-see stuff in front of a rowdy crowd enjoying the southern sunshine. It should be an excellent way to start your MLS day before the main course tonight.
The best matchup of the day comes at 7:30 pm ET in Cincinnati. The Sounders are in town and FC Cincinnati, with the burden and gift of expectations for the first time in their history, will be eager to prove a lot of folks like me right and put in the kind of performance that shows why we were all so high on them entering this season. Because, so far, that kind of performance hasn’t happened yet.
In Cincy’s first home match of the year, they were outplayed at times by Houston, but still found a way to win 2-1. In last week’s matchup against Orlando, they were likely the better team, but still came out with a 0-0 draw. That’s four points and the kind of results you have to get from time to time to grab a home Audi MLS Cup Playoffs spot or even make your way to a Supporters’ Shield. But the Knifey Lions are still looking for the kind of showing that puts the rest of the conference on notice that they’re a bit more than a side set to grind out points every now and then. A win over Seattle – especially this version of Seattle that, so far, has looked like a genuine contender for trophies (plural) – would be exactly that.
Meanwhile, Seattle are in full-on rampage mode to start the year. They seem like a team that’s been impatiently waiting all offseason to prove how much of a fluke last season’s playoff miss was. So far though, they’ve beaten up on decent-but-not-great Colorado and RSL. This feels like a different challenge. Especially on the road. And especially now that their newest striker, Héber, will be out for 2-4 weeks. The Sounders’ biggest concern always seems to be how they’ll deal with a roster that’s been prone to missing time due to injuries over the last few years. It has to have a few folks feeling a bit anxious to see the player they brought in to spell their already often-injured starting striker, Raúl Ruidíaz, go down for a few games.
Even still, Seattle will have plenty of firepower available for this one. It’s not clear if Ruidíaz will start, but this is still Seattle. Cincinnati will have their hands full. And we should have a chance to see the best-played game of the weekend.
St. Louis CITY SC (who really need a nickname soon) are going to remain one of the single-biggest storylines to watch each and every Saturday for as long as they keep winning. They’re heading to Portland tonight for a potential MLS After Dark special and if they come out of it alive, maybe even with three points, they’ll be off to what could probably be called the best start in MLS expansion history.
It’s never easy to go to Providence Park and come away with a win though. The Timbers relish making things difficult, oftentimes to a fault. St. Louis are going to have to scrap and claw and possibly find new ways to score that don’t involve the other team passing the ball directly to them to create one-on-one scoring opportunities. It wouldn’t be all that surprising if they do just that though. We still have a lot to learn about this team, but for now we get to sit back and wait to see if the fallback down to Earth most expansion teams have is coming for them anytime soon.
Nashville SC place defender DePuy on Season-Ending Injury List: Nashville SC defender Nick DePuy will miss the rest of the 2023 MLS season after undergoing surgery on an Achilles injury. The 28-year-old has been placed on the Season-Ending Injury List, meaning he will not be eligible to play for the club in any remaining competition this season. Per MLS rules, if a player suffers a season-ending injury, a club may place that injured player on the Season-Ending Injury List and receive roster relief (i.e., an open roster slot).
Atlanta United sign homegrown forward Brennan: Atlanta United have signed forward Luke Brennan to a homegrown player deal that is effective for the 2024 MLS season. The 18-year-old will spend the 2023 season on an MLS NEXT Pro deal, competing with ATL UTD 2 before being added to the first-team roster. Current homegrowns Noah Cobb and Ajani Fortune followed a similar developmental path last year.
Former MLS MVP Pozuelo joins Turkey's Konyaspor: Alejandro Pozuelo's remarkable Major League Soccer career is officially over, with the 2020 Landon Donovan MLS MVP returning to Europe after four seasons. Turkish Süper Lig side Konyaspor last week announced the signing of the 31-year-old Spanish midfielder, one of the league's brightest talents between 2019-22. With Toronto FC and Inter Miami CF, Pozuelo tallied 28 goals and 37 assists over 100 regular-season games.
- James Sands has vowed to "step up as a leader" at NYCFC after the end of his Rangers loan.
- Jonathan Sigal took you through how to watch and what you need to know for all 14 games on Matchday 3.
- Schuyler Redpath has your MLS Fantasy advice for Round 3.
- Charles Boehm examined each MLS CCL team’s odds of advancing to the quarterfinals.
- LAFC brought "respect" at Alajuelense and got their CCL reward.
- Here’s the latest player availability report.
Good luck out there. Look your best for big events.
