Seattle Sounders begin their 2022 MLS campaign with a home fixture against Nashville SC at Lumen Field.
Both teams earned a place in the playoffs last season, with the Sounders surprisingly losing in the first round and Nashville exiting at the Conference semi-finals stage.
Match preview
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Having finished in second position in the Western Conference for the fifth season in a row, Seattle would have had high hopes when it came to going deep into the MLS Playoffs.
However, a penalty-shootout exit to Real Salt Lake in the first round represented their earliest exit in their history, and it should only stoke the fires ahead of this campaign.
The early round of fixtures are usually somewhat of an unknown, but the Sounders have already been competing in the Concacaf Champions League.
Although they were held to a goalless draw in Honduras by Motagua, Brian Schmetzer's team responded with a thumping 5-0 victory in the reverse fixture to progress through their last-16 tie.
Their highest-profile addition of the off-season Leo Chu got on the scoresheet during that fixture, the £2.25m signing from Gremino making an instant impact for his new side.
In their two seasons in the MLS, Nashville have reached the last eight of the playoffs, an excellent achievement which has come at a time when the more established teams have been intent on strengthening.
Ahead of their third campaign, head coach Gary Smith will want to go at least a step further, as well as qualifying for a continental competition.
Unlike their hosts, Nashville have had to be content with a couple of friendly fixtures in preparation for this contest, beating Charlotte by a 3-1 scoreline before losing 3-2 to FC Cincinnati.
In terms of acquisitions, former New York Red Bulls midfielder Sean Davis is a notable signing having moved to the club on a free transfer, while club-record addition Ake Loba is under pressure to deliver after failing to live up to his transfer fee during the second half of the last campaign.
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Team News
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Schmetzer was required to name a strong side for the continental fixture earlier this week, and the majority of that team should start this game.
Joao Paulo is pushing for a start after his second-half outing on Thursday, while Samuel Adeniran could replace Jordan Morris, who may not be risked twice in quick succession after his long-term knee injury last season.
Will Bruin, Jimmy Medranda and Josh Atencio all missed out against Motagua through injury, something which could remain the case here.
With Nashville having no competitive games under their belt, Smith may go with the team which started the latest friendly against Cincinnati.
Seattle Sounders possible starting lineup:
Frei; Roldan, Gomez, Arreaga, Tolo; Roldan, Vargas; Rusnak, Lodeiro, Morris; Ruidiaz
Nashville SC possible starting lineup:
Meredith; Muyl, Bauer, Castellanos, Longmire, Washington, Davis, Anunga, Rios, Haakenson, Leal
We say: Seattle Sounders 3-1 Nashville SC
Based on last season's form, this should prove to be a hard-fought contest, but we cannot ignore that the Sounders already have competitive games under their belt. With that in mind, we are predicting a win for the home side, who may rally during the closing stages.
Darren Plant
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Seattle Sounders win with a probability of 55.86%. A draw had a probability of 25.4% and a win for Nashville SC had a probability of 18.74%.
The most likely scoreline for a Seattle Sounders win was 1-0 with a probability of 14.94%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (11.68%) and 2-1 (9.16%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.72%), while for a Nashville SC win it was 0-1 (7.5%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with a 7.5% likelihood.
