The Seattle Sounders are visiting the LA Galaxy on Saturday in a massive six-pointer in the Western Conference. Here is everything you need to know:
WHEN AND WHERE: Kickoff is at 6 p.m. PT at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif.
WHERE TO WATCH: The match will be televised on JOEtv and Prime Video.
WHERE TO LISTEN: The match will air on 950 KJR AM and El Rey 1360 AM.
2021 RECORDS AND STANDINGS: Seattle: 5-0-3 (18 points, 1st West), LA: 5-2-0 (15 points, 3rd West)
PREVIOUS MEETING: The Sounders dominated the Galaxy in a 3-0 win at Lumen Field on May 2 behind a brace from Raúl Ruidíaz and an additional tally from Brad Smith.
FORM GUIDE (most recent first): Sounders: DDWWW, Galaxy: WLWWL
LONG LAYOFF: The Galaxy and Sounders return to MLS action following a three-week FIFA international break. They last played on May 29 and 30, respectively.
BATTLE ATOP THE WEST: The Sounders and Galaxy have combined to take 33 of 45 points on offer and are two of only four teams with five wins so far.
STILL UNBEATEN: Seattle and Nashville SC remain the only two unbeaten teams a quarter of the way through the season, though the Sounders have played an extra match, have three more wins and own a plus-eight advantage in goal differential.
RUIDÍAZ RETURNS: The Sounders received some unexpected good news in that Ruidíaz, who’s second in MLS in goals with six, should be available. He was away with Peru for FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, but he was surprisingly left off the roster for Copa América.
ARREAGA AWAY: The same cannot be said for defender Xavier Arreaga, who is with Ecuador for the aforementioned Copa América.
CHICHA SHINING: The only player ahead of Ruidíaz in scoring this year is Galaxy No. 9 Javier “Chicharito” Hernández, who has scored seven times in as many matches. He notably did not get on the score sheet in his first match against the Sounders in early May, something Seattle will look to replicate on Saturday.
NEW ADDITIONS: LA will have a couple fresh faces available since the last time it met Seattle. The Galaxy added 21-year-old French winger Kevin Cabral, who has started twice and made an additional appearance off the bench since he debuted on May 15. They also signed 25-year-old French defender Séga Coulibaly, who has yet to debut.
WILLIAMS SUSPENDED: The Galaxy will be without defender Derrick Williams, who will serve the first of his additional five-match suspension for a tackle he made on Andy Polo of the Portland Timbers. Polo will miss the rest of the season with a ruptured quadriceps muscle and torn meniscus as a result of the challenge.
