Preview: New York City FC vs Seattle Sounders - prediction, team news, lineups

Paying their first-ever visit to Citi Field on Saturday, the Seattle Sounders battle New York City FC to begin Decision Day in the MLS regular season.

Both sides are fifth in their respective conferences, with the Pigeons losing 1-0 to the Philadelphia Union on matchday 33, while the Sounders were 1-0 winners over Real Salt Lake.

Match preview

Home-field advantage in the first round is still a possibility for New York City as they prepare for their regular-season finale in Queens this weekend.

A win versus the Sounders, combined with a Charlotte FC slip-up against Philly, would vault the Boys in Blue into fourth, while a draw, a Charlotte loss and Nashville SC dropping points to Inter Miami would also get them there.

Three of their four regular-season affairs this year at Citi Field ended with Pascal Jansen’s side collecting maximum points, though their previous match in Queens was a forgettable 4-0 defeat to Inter Miami last month.

Should they emerge victorious on Saturday, it would mark the second-best campaign for the club in terms of points in this competition, behind only the 2019 team, which earned 64 points in 34 matches.

This weekend, the Boys in Blue can equal a single-season club record for home triumphs, collecting 12 wins in New York during the 2018 campaign.

NYCFC are unbeaten in their previous three competitive home games versus the Rave Green, winning those last two such outings in MLS by a combined margin of 5-1.

It has been touch-and-go for Seattle in recent weeks but they seem to have regained their true identity as the regular season comes to an end.

Brian Schmetzer’s men entered October on a four-match domestic winless run but are currently on a two-game winning streak without a single goal conceded in their last two outings.

This match could be a big one purely from a self-confidence perspective, given that they will not have home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs and are on a three-match losing streak in the league away from home.

The Sounders are unbeaten on the road in the 2025 MLS season when netting in the opening half but have not done so since an August visit to Dignity Health Sports Park against the Los Angeles Galaxy (4-0 win).

Not since the 2012 season have the Rave Green lost a Decision Day affair away from home, with the Galaxy beating them 1-0 in Carson on that occasion.

Domestically, Seattle are winless as the visitors versus Eastern Conference teams this year, with their last such triumph coming in Columbus against the Crew in September 2024 (4-0).

New York City FC Major League Soccer form:

Seattle Sounders Major League Soccer form:

Team News

Leg injuries will likely keep Keaton Parks, Malachi Jones and Nico Cavallo out of the New York City FC fold for the regular-season finale, as it has for a good portion of the year.

There were two new faces in the starting 11 for them on matchday 33, with Kevin O’Toole and Alonso Martinez coming in to replace Agustin Ojeda and Aiden O’Neill.

Seattle are expected to be without Kim Kee-Hee, who has a calf strain, while hamstring issues continue to plague Ryan Kent and Yeimar Gomez Andrade and Paul Arriola will likely miss out with a knee injury.

Paul Rothrock netted four minutes into their previous match with RSL, while Stefan Frei made four stops for his eighth clean sheet of the campaign.

New York City FC possible starting lineup:

Freese; Gray, Martins, Gustavo, O’Toole; Haak, Perea; N. Fernandez, Moralez, Wolf; Martinez

Seattle Sounders possible starting lineup:

Thomas; Kossa-Rienzi, A. Roldan, Ragen, Bell; Paulo, Leyva; Musovski, Ferreira, Rothrock; De Rosario

We say: New York City FC 2-0 Seattle Sounders

With the Sounders’ regular-season fate already decided, we expect a few changes to their lineup, while we do not believe they will be nearly as sharp as New York City, who still have something to play for.

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