Vancouver Whitecaps v St. Louis City: 'Muller makes everyone better', says Sabbi

Vancouver Whitecaps forward Emmanuel Sabbi believes Thomas Muller "makes everyone better" due to his standards in training.

After calling time on his trophy-laden career with Bayern, Muller joined the Whitecaps as a free agent and made his debut in their 1-1 draw to the Houston Dynamo last time out.

The Whitecaps are currently third in the Western Conference, with a game in hand on both teams above them, but have lost some ground on their rivals after failing to win their last two games.

Sabbi, however, is confident Vancouver can reignite their attacking form, with the help of Muller, when they host St. Louis City SC in their next game.

"It has been great [to have Muller in the squad]," said Sabbi. "Tremendous guy. We love having him here, and he has been a wonderful add on.

"He is just looking to get at it every day in training, that is what we love about it. He is a competitive guy and we love that because it makes everyone better.

"We have to finish our chances. I think we have been creating a lot of chances, but have not been efficient enough.

"We have been playing well, playing tremendous football. It is just about the last third.

We need to hit the back of the net. It is easier said than done but we need to be doing it more often."

A 3-2 defeat to the Chicago Fire in their previous match marked St. Louis' seventh defeat in their last 10 MLS matches last time out. 

They are currently 14th in the Western Conference, 11 points off the playoffs spots.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Vancouver Whitecaps – Brian White

Brian White has been a key player for the Whitecaps this season, scoring 13 times in 18 MLS games. He has also found the net in each of his last three matches in all competitions.

He has scored seven goals against St. Louis in his five career matches against them. That is the most regular-season goals by any Whitecaps player against a single MLS opponent in club history.

St. Louis City – Marcel Hartel

In their defeat to the Fire, Marcel Hartel scored his fifth league goal of the season, and his team-best third road goal in 2025.

St. Louis have scored just 10 goals on the road this season and Hartel has contributed to half (three goals, two assists) of those.

MATCH PREDICTION – VANCOUVER WHITECAPS WIN

The Whitecaps have scored in 11 of their 12 home MLS games this season, tallying 26 goals. It is the most they have scored in their first 12 home matches of a season, surpassing the 25 goals they managed at this point in 2023, 2018 and 2013.

St. Louis on the other hand have lost eight straight MLS road matches, the longest road losing streak in the league this season.

Vancouver are unbeaten in their last four matches (W3 D1) against St. Louis, with their only loss coming in the first meeting in May 2023. The only teams the Whitecaps have longer active unbeaten streaks against in league play are Austin FC (seven) and Toronto FC (six).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Vancouver Whitecaps – 62.5%

Draw – 19.9%

St. Louis City – 17.6%