Fredy Montero or Sam Adeniran are the obvious candidates to fill in.
Both Raúl Ruidíaz and Will Bruin were ruled out for Tuesday’s Concacaf Champions League quarterfinal match against Club León, head coach Brian Schmetzer revealed on Monday.
Ruidíaz started the first two matches of the season, but had to be removed at halftime of the second Motagua match with a hamstring injury. This will be the third straight match he’s missed. Ruidíaz missed eight matches last year, most of them with similar muscle injuries.
Bruin has not yet played this year due to a couple different muscle injuries. He had been slated to return for the Real Salt Lake match but suffered a setback in the week leading up to it.
Their injuries leave the Sounders with Fredy Montero and Sam Adeniran as the obvious options to start against León. Adeniran started against Nashville SC and was mostly invisible before being pulled at halftime. Montero started against RSL, and while not having the same physical presence, was probably the Sounders’ most dangerous player. Montero finished with a team-high four shots and compiled .60 expected goals.
