Both aiming to make it back-to-back Major League Soccer victories, Seattle Sounders and Nashville SC will meet at Lumen Field on Saturday.
The visitors sit sixth in the Eastern Conference standings with a return to winning ways last weekend, while their hosts ended a five-match winless run away from home.
Match preview
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Seattle Sounders return to action at Lumen Field on Saturday aiming to kickstart their Major League Soccer campaign with a second straight victory after a slow start.
Following a fourth-placed Western Conference finish last time around and an eventual playoff exit in the Conference finals, the Sounders picked up just six points from their first seven outings of the 2025 campaign, winning just one of those and losing three.
That included a four-match league winless run, and five in all competitions, culminating in a 3-0 away loss to San Diego FC in early April before a trip to FC Dallas last weekend.
Brian Schmetzer's side were able to bounce back to winning ways in that game, though, standing strong for a 1-0 victory at the Toyota Stadium after Danny Musovski opened the scoring in the 17th minute.
Now sitting 11th in the Western Conference after eight games but only trailing the top seven by three points at this early stage, Seattle Sounders will aim to build a run on the back of last week's triumph and join the division's frontrunners in the coming weeks.
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Their visitors, meanwhile, head to Washington aiming to build on a win of their own last time out after a mixed start to their season.
After failing to reach the MLS playoffs in 2024, Nashville SC began the new term by earning 10 points from their first five outings, thanks to three straight wins over Portland Timbers, Philadelphia Union and CF Montreal in March.
Back-to-back defeats would follow for the Coyotes, though, suffering 2-1 losses to FC Cincinnati and Charlotte FC having conceded in injury time on both occasions after taking initial leads, having been ahead through Hany Mukhtar until the final five minutes against the latter.
B. J. Callaghan's side then hosted Real Salt Lake last time out and were on the right end of the same scoreline thanks to a late goal of their own, as Daniel Lovitz drew them level at a goal apiece after Dominik Marczuk's opener, before Sam Surridge converted a 91st-minute penalty to snatch all three points.
Having moved back up to sixth spot with that return to winning ways, Nashville SC now head to Lumen Field in search of back-to-back three-point hauls and a second away win of the season.
Team News
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Seattle Sounders may again be without key man Albert Rusnak, who has contributed two goals and three assists this season after notching up 10 goals and 16 assists last time around, as he missed their win over FC Dallas through injury alongside Paul Arriola, Ryan Kent and Alexander Roldan.
They could be unchanged from that victory, with Danny Musovski bound to lead the line again after netting his first goal of the season in that game.
He should again be flanked by Jesus Ferreira and Pedro de la Vega, while Obed Vargas and Cristian Roldan are mainstays in the engine room of their 3-4-3 setup.
Nashville SC will again be without important defender Walker Zimmerman, who missed last weekend's meeting with Real Salt Lake through injury, while Tyler Boyd and Julian Gaines are also sidelined.
Sam Surridge will spearhead the attack again, having netted his second goal of the season last time out after notching up 12 last time around, while Hany Mukhtar is another danger man on the right-hand side.
Edvard Tagseth, Gaston Brugman and Alex Muyi will keep their places in the engine room, while Jeison Palacios and Jack Maher will again partner up at the heart of a back four after last week's clean sheet.
Seattle Sounders possible starting lineup:
Frei; Nouhou, Ragen, Gomez; Kalani, Vargas, Roldan, Rothrock; De La Vega, Musovski, Ferreira
Nashville SC possible starting lineup:
Willis; Najar, Palacios, Maher, Lovitz; Tagseth, Brugman, Muyi; Mukhtar, Surridge, Qasem
We say: Seattle Sounders 2-1 Nashville SC
Seattle Sounders are yet to truly show their quality this season, but with renewed confidence from a return to winning ways, we give them the slight edge in what should be a close encounter on Saturday.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Sam Varley
