Seattle Sounders FC vs. LA Galaxy | 2018 MLS Match Preview

Seattle Sounders FC vs. LA Galaxy
2018 MLS Regular Season — Week 25
CenturyLink Field — Seattle
August 18 – 4 pm ET
WATCH: ESPN, MLS LIVE on DAZN (Canada)

With five consecutive wins and eight games without a loss, Seattle Sounders FC are one of the hottest teams in MLS and have made a remarkable climb up the Western Conference, one that can push them ahead of the playoff line with a win against an LA Galaxy side winless in their last three after a pair of disappointing draws.

The Sounders are coming off a 2-1 home win over FC Dallas to move within three points of sixth-place Real Salt Lake, while the Galaxy settled for a 2-2 home draw against the Colorado Rapids Tuesday night.

Seattle Sounders FC

Seattle (9-9-5) made it five straight victories with a 2-1 win over West-leading FC Dallas Sunday at CenturyLink Field.

Chad Marshall opened the scoring in the 41st minute, latching onto a Nico Lodeiro corner kick to give the Sounders the lead at the break. After Dominique Badji leveled in the 52nd minute, Lodeiro scored what proved to be the winner in the 63rd minute with a free kick that found its way through a maze of players.

“It will be a game by game, matchup by matchup decision by the coaching staff and there might be a change we make, a subtle one, home or away, some of those little nuances,” Brian Schmetzer said. “But I like the way the team has been playing so its hard to change when something’s working so well for you.”

• Suspended: None
• Suspended after next caution: D – Nouhou Tolo, D – Jordy Delem
• International duty: None
• Injury Report: OUT: F – Jordan Morris (torn ACL); QUESTIONABLE: M – Handwalla Bwana (right midfoot sprain), F – Clint Dempsey (low back pain), D – Brad Smith (groin injury)

Projected Starting XI
(4-2-3-1, right to left)
GK: Stefan Frei — Kelvin Leerdam, Kim Kee-hee, Chad Marshall, Brad Smith — Gustav Svensson, Osvaldo Alonso — Cristian Roldan, Nico Lodeiro, Harry Shipp — Raul Ruidiaz

• Notes: Clint Dempsey has scored five goals in 13 matches against the Galaxy, including postseason play. This is tied for the fourth-highest goal total for a Sounders player against a MLS team since the start of 2010. … The Sounders are unbeaten in their last eight league matches (6W-2D), allowing 0.6 goals per game. They had won once in their prior seven (5L-1D), allowing 1.6 goals per game.

LA Galaxy

The winless streak is now three games for the LA Galaxy (10-8-7) after conceding late for the third straight game and settling for a 2-2 draw against the Colorado Rapids on Tuesday night at StubHub Center.

Ashley Cole opened the scoring in the 59th minute before Edgar Castillo leveled in the 74th minute. Two minutes later, Sebastian Lletget put the Galaxy back in front, but Niki Jackson struck for the equalizer in the 82nd minute.

“We had the lead twice so we need to hold on the lead,” Sigi Schmid said. “We can talk tactics if we want, but when there’s one player forward and he’s playing against four defenders and he drops off and gets the ball in a pocket…I don’t know what the tactics are there. Do we need six back there? The tactics are that someone has to get up his rear end. It’s just that final thing for us. It hasn’t clicked.”

• Suspended: None
• Suspended after next caution: D – Michael Ciani
• International duty: None
• Injury Report: OUT: D – Rolf Feltscher (shoulder surgery), M – Romain Alessandrini (knee injury), F – Giovani dos Santos (leg injury); QUESTIONABLE: M – Jonathan dos Santos (groin injury), D – Michael Ciani (hamstring injury)

Projected Starting XI
(3-4-1-2, right to left)
GK: David Bingham — Dave Romney, Michael Ciani, Jorgen Skjelvik — Chris Pontius, Perry Kitchen, Servando Carrasco, Ashley Cole — Sebastian Lletget — Ola Kamara, Bradford Jamieson

• Notes: Since the beginning of August, 2017, Gio dos Santos, Jonathan dos Santos and Romain Alessandrini have played in just 27.2 percent of minutes in MLS play (974:51 of 3,579:14). The Galaxy average 2.0 goals per 90 when the trio is on the field (1.3 when at least one is off). … LA have lost just once in their last 12 MLS matches (5W-6D), outscoring opponents 30-20. However, they have only one win in their last five (1L-3D).

All-Time Series

• Overall: Seattle Sounders FC 6 wins, 27 goals … LA Galaxy 9 wins, 31 goals … 9 draws
• At Seattle: Sounders FC 3 wins, 13 goals … Galaxy 4 wins, 14 goals … 5 draws
• Last meeting at Seattle: Seattle Sounders FC 1, LA Galaxy 1 (Sept. 10, 2017)

Officials

Referee: Mark Geiger
Assistant Referees: Frank Anderson, Mike Rotterdam
4th Official: Dave Gantar
VAR: Younes Marrakchi