Sporting Kansas City at Seattle Sounders FC
Saturday, Sept. 1, 2018 | 3 p.m. CT
CenturyLink Field | Seattle, Washington
2018 MLS Regular Season | Game 26 of 34
Broadcast Schedule:
English TV | FOX Sports Kansas City
English TV | FOX Sports Midwest Plus
English Stream | @UnivisionSports on Twitter
English Radio | ESPN 94.5 FM / 1510 AM
Spanish TV | UniMas, UDN
Spanish Radio | ESPN Deportes KC 1480 AM
Mobile | Sporting KC Uphoria
Uphoria App | By The Numbers | Five Things to Know
Game Notes | Media Guide | Starting XI | MatchCenter | Videos
A colossal Western Conference clash beckons Saturday as second-place Sporting Kansas City (13-6-6, 45 points) and sixth-place Seattle Sounders FC (11-9-5, 38 points) put their impressive winning streaks on the line at CenturyLink Field in Seattle.
Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. CT, with three hours of live coverage on FOX Sports Kansas City and FOX Sports Midwest Plus beginning at 2:30 p.m. CT. The contest will also air nationally in Spanish on UniMas and UDN and stream live in English via @UnivisionSports on Twitter. Local radio broadcasts will air live on ESPN 94.5 FM / 1510 AM (English) and ESPN Deportes KC 1480 AM (Spanish), while the Sporting KC Uphoria app will provide additional live updates.
All supporters are welcome to the official watch party for Saturday's game at No Other Pub in the Kansas City Power & Light District (1370 Grand Blvd.). From 2:30 p.m. CT until the final whistle, No Other Pub will offer $5 Corona cans and an all-you-can-eat buffet with endless soda and domestic draft beers.
Two of the league’s hottest teams are on a collision course this weekend as Sporting KC, winners of four straight, aim to knock off a surging Seattle that has collected seven consecutive victories of their own. Sporting KC enters Week 27 one point behind Western Conference leaders FC Dallas with a game in hand, while Seattle currently holds the sixth and final playoff spot in the West by the slimmest of margins — tied with seventh-place LA Galaxy on 38 points but owning the wins tiebreaker.
Sporting KC is coming off a 2-0 home triumph against Minnesota United FC last Saturday that saw Manager Peter Vermes’ men become the sixth MLS team all-time to record four straight shutout wins in a single regular season. Substitute Yohan Croizet fired the hosts ahead early in the second half before Diego Rubio continued his masterful month of August with a game-clinching goal in the 62nd minute. Sporting KC is seeking their first five-game MLS winning streak since 2012, and has the chance to become the first team in league history to record five straight shutout wins.
Led by head coach Brian Schmetzer, the two-time defending Western Conference champion Sounders have rattled off seven successive victories to tie the single-season MLS record first set by Sporting KC in 2012. The club earned a resolute 1-0 road win over rivals Portland last Sunday, receiving a 76th-minute own goal from Timbers defender Julio Cascante after Seattle defender Kim Kee-Hee swung a low cross into a crowded penalty area.
Riding a 376-minute shutout streak dating back to July 28, Sporting KC boasts a conference-best plus-17 goal differential. Goalkeeper Tim Melia leads MLS with 11 shutouts to anchor a defense that has conceded 30 goals, third-fewest in the league. Offensively, the likes of Johnny Russell (eight goals, eight assists), Daniel Salloi (seven goals, seven assists) and Diego Rubio (seven goals, five assists) bolster a dynamic attack that ranks among the best in the league. Russell (Scotland), Salloi (Hungary) and Rubio (Chile) have all received call-ups to their respective national teams and will travel abroad for international matches following Saturday’s game.
Seattle wields an 8-0-2 record since the start of July — thanks in part to influential playmaking midfielder Nicolas Lodeiro, who has five goals and five assists during the unbeaten run. The Sounders have outscored opponents 19-5 over the last two months, posting five clean sheets, with goalkeeper Stefan Frei, center back Chad Marshall and gritty captain Osvaldo Alonso comprising the spine of a team that has allowed 26 goals in 25 games, tied for the fewest in MLS.
A lesser-used role player during Seattle’s recent surge was forward Clint Dempsey, who announced his retirement from the game on Wednesday at age 35. The U.S. international and American soccer legend played professionally for 15 years, including seven years in the English Premier League for Tottenham and Fulham in between MLS stints with the New England Revolution and Seattle.
Given both teams’ defensive form and recent history between the clubs, goals could be at a premium on Saturday. In 17 regular season meetings all-time, Sporting KC and Seattle have combined for more than three goals just twice, including their 2-2 draw at Children’s Mercy Park on April 15. The exciting stalemate, played amidst frigid conditions in Kansas City, saw Sporting KC take a first-half lead on an Ilie Sanchez penalty kick before Will Bruin equalized on the stroke of halftime. Cristian Roldan fired Seattle ahead in the 73rd minute, but Graham Zusi bagged an equalizer five minutes later to split the points.
Including playoffs, eight of the nine MLS meetings between Sporting KC and Sounders FC at CenturyLink Field have produced a goal or less. The only matchup played in Seattle to produce more than one goal was a 1-1 draw in June 2012.
