Hot on the heels of their decisive win in the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League on Wednesday night, Seattle Sounders FC will return to MLS regular season action with plenty of postseason positioning on the line on Sunday at Sporting Kansas City (2 p.m. PT; ESPN).
The Sounders currently hold a one-point edge on SKC for the fourth spot in the Western Conference, and could be poised to gain more ground on a Kansas City team that heads into the weekend on short rest and shorthanded.
SKC lost to the Houston Dynamo 1-0 at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston on Wednesday night, and playmaking midfielder Benny Feilhaber and World Cup veteran centerback Matt Besler both picked up their sixth yellow card cautions of the season in the loss. That means that both players will serve a one-game suspension for yellow card accumulation on Sunday, depriving the club of two key starters when the Sounders come to town.
Feilhaber has been a tremendous offensive catalyst for SKC this season, at times vaulting himself into the conversation for MLS MVP with 10 goals and a league-high 14 assists. Besler, meanwhile, has started 28 games this season on the back line, registering three assists.
SKC have lost five of their last seven games overall and failed to capitalize while playing up a man for the final 20 minutes against the Dynamo on Wednesday, after Houston playmaker Boniek Garcia was sent off for his second yellow card.
“It was horrific,” SKC manager Peter Vermes told reporters following the match. “We were not good. We were not good in possession. We reacted to everything on the field. We played very, very poorly – very poorly – in the game tonight. This wasn't one of those games where we deserved anything, that's for sure.”
SKC are also balancing their lineup ahead of the US Open Cup final next week, their first appearance in the USOC title game since they beat Seattle in 2012.
“I think we're all frustrated,” SKC defender Kevin Ellis said after Wednesday’s loss. “I think it took us too long to really get into the game. I think we were too comfortable hitting the ball forward and hoping something would happen instead of playing our style of the game.”
SKC topped the Sounders 1-0 at Sporting Park on June 6, and the two teams played to a scoreless draw at CenturyLink Field in Seattle on May 23. The Sounders hold a 7-2-2 edge in the all-time series in MLS play, and are 2-1-0 all-time at Sporting Park.
