Sporting Kansas City begin a stretch of five matches in 14 days across all competitions when they travel to Lumen Field for a date with the Seattle Sounders on Sunday.
Last weekend, the Rave Green moved a point above St Louis City for the Western Conference lead despite a 0-0 draw versus Real Salt Lake, while SKC are the only MLS side without a victory this season, dropping a 2-0 decision to CF Montreal in their previous encounter.
Match preview
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Not having the physical demands of the CONCACAF Champions League (CCL) seems to have made a massive difference in the Sounders' performances to this point of the new campaign, as this group look rejuvenated and back to being the dominant team we remember from seasons past.
Seattle are right where many usually expect them to be, on top of the conference table and just a point behind the New England Revolution in the Supporters' Shield standings, while currently unbeaten at home in MLS this season and without a goal conceded at Lumen Field.
In their 10 league fixtures played this year, the Rave Green have often found themselves on the front foot, while their defence have rarely been threatened, as the Sounders have only conceded one first-half goal in 2023, with that one coming in their previous trip to Kansas City which they won 4-1.
That match back in March is one of four multi-goal games that Brian Schmetzer has seen his side produce over this campaign, tied for the most in MLS so far this year.
Their goals-against average of 0.70 is the second-lowest in Major League Soccer, although their defence was more fragile the last time they played in the Pacific Northwest, narrowly defeating San Diego Loyola at the US Open Cup in a match played at Starfire Sports, with many second team players featuring for Seattle on that occasion.
Though they have the second-most goals in the Western Conference thus far (17), the Sounders' offence has dried up slightly in recent matches, scoring a goal or fewer in each of their previous three MLS affairs.
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Just when you think things could not get any worse, Kansas City put forth yet another uninspiring performance last weekend, failing to score for a seventh time in the regular season.
SKC are not having any difficulty getting into their opponents' attacking third, ranked second in the league for final third entries per game (66.2), but they have not done much when scoring opportunities arise, with a league-low three goals after 10 fixtures, two of which have come away from home.
With just three points so far, Peter Vermes's men are off to the worst start after 10 regular season games in MLS history, while they have not beaten a Western Conference opponent since blanking the Sounders 1-0 in October of last season.
It is no secret that these are challenging times for a franchise that have only missed the postseason twice since 2011, but this team seem to raise their level of play when travelling to Seattle, winning three of their last four visits to Lumen Field since 2019.
The results have not gone their way to this point of the campaign, although it is not as if teams are blowing them out, with seven of their MLS encounters this season decided by a goal or fewer and KC losing twice when scoring first, including against the Rave Green earlier this year.
Part of their scoring woes can be attributed to this team's inability to unlock opposing defences and get their attacking threats in dangerous scoring positions, as the average shot distance for Sporting in 2023 is 20.6 yards, the longest in MLS.
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Team News
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Joao Paulo will not be available for Seattle this weekend due to yellow card accumulation, Cristian Roldan missed their previous encounter as he was in concussion protocol, Nouhou Tolo was ill, Raul Ruidiaz has a right hamstring strain and Jacob Castro is expected to sit this one out because of a right adductor injury.
Stefan Frei picked up his league-leading sixth clean sheet of the campaign last weekend, as he and Yeimar Gomez have played all 900 minutes for the Sounders in the regular season, while the two of them, along with Nicolas Lodeiro and Jackson Ragen, have started all of their MLS matches in 2023.
After 10 domestic encounters, Jordan Morris leads the Golden Boot race with eight goals, half of them coming in their victory versus KC earlier this year, while Leo Chu was involved in each of those goals, as the Brazilian leads MLS in assists per 90 minutes this year (0.74).
Sporting could be missing numerous players through injury once again this Sunday, including Graham Zusi (muscle strain), Nemanja Radoja (quad), Willy Agada (tibia stress fracture), Kayden Pierre (hamstring), Tim Leibold (hamstring) and Kortne Ford (Achilles surgery).
Remi Walter has been in the starting 11 for this team in 52 straight regular-season affairs, the second-longest active streak among MLS field players behind Daniel Gazdag of the Philadelphia Union (82), Khiry Shelton needs one more start to reach 100 in his Major League Soccer career, while Zusi, who is questionable for this encounter, could earn his 350th MLS regular-season cap if he plays on Sunday, which would match Kyle Beckerman for the third-most all-time in league history.
Johnny Russell is still seeking his elusive 50th goal in Kansas City colours, Roger Espinoza is two assists away from equalling the third-most for this club in the regular season, a mark currently held by Chris Klein (45), while Daniel Salloi can surpass Dom Dwyer for the seventh-most goals in all competitions for SKC, as he is on 77 at the moment.
Seattle Sounders possible starting lineup:
Frei; A. Roldan, Gomez, Ragen, Arreaga; Rusnak; Rowe, Vargas, Lodeiro, Chu; Morris
Sporting Kansas City possible starting lineup:
Melia; Davis, Castellanos, Voloder, Ndenbe; Espinoza, Walter, Kinda; Russell, Pulido, Salloi
We say: Seattle Sounders 2-0 Sporting Kansas City
The last thing you want to hear if you support Kansas City is one of your leaders, Johnny Russell, publicly saying they do not know how to fix their issues, that alone has to be worrisome and it makes it difficult to imagine they can find a way through one of the top defensive units in MLS.
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Top tip
Joel Lefevre
