The Sounders travel to San Jose this weekend for a match with the Earthquakes. Here is everything you need to know heading into the game.
WHEN AND WHERE: Kickoff is Saturday at 7:30 p.m. PT at Avaya Stadium in San Jose, Calif.
HOW TO WATCH AND LISTEN: You can find the match on JOEtv, Univision-Seattle, KIRO Radio 97.3 FM and El Rey 1360AM. A full list of Sounders FC Pub Partners is located here.
RECORDS AND STANDINGS: Sounders (9-13-4, 31 points, 8th in Western Conference), Earthquakes (7-8-11, 32 points, 7th in Western Conference)
ALL-TIME HISTORY: The Sounders are 7-10-3 against San Jose all time. Seattle won its previous matchup earlier this year after going winless in three tries last season.
LAST MEETING: The Sounders won 2-0 at CenturyLink Field on May 7 behind goals from forwards Clint Dempsey and Jordan Morris.
DEMPSEY’S HEALTH: Dempsey is still out indefinitely and his status is uncertain as he undergoes testing for an irregular heartbeat diagnosed two weeks ago. The United States international was also not called up for the U.S.’ 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches this month as a result.
TORRES RETURNS: Defender Roman Torresreturned to the Sounders’ lineup in Seattle’s 4-2 loss to the Portland Timbers two weekends ago. He had been recovering from a torn ACL he suffered last September, coincidentally, against the Earthquakes in just his fourth match with the club. Torres started for Panama in their 2-0 win over Jamaica on Friday, and with Panama already qualified for the Hexagonal, it is not yet determined whether he will play in their final qualifier against Costa Rica on Tuesday.
INTERNATIONAL DUTY: The Sounders have six players representing their countries during this international break: Morris (United States), Torres (Panama), Nicolas Lodeiro (Uruguay), Joevin Jones (Trinidad and Tobago) and Oalex Anderson and S2’s Myron Samuel (St. Vincent and the Grenadines). Last Thursday, Lodeiro and Uruguay fell 1-0 to Argentina in CONMEBOL qualifying. On Friday, Torres and Panama defeated Jamaica 2-0, Jones and T&T qualified for the Hex after drawing Guatemala and Morris and the United States defeated Anderson, Samuel and St. Vincent 6-0.
United States head coach Jurgen Klinsmann also called in San Jose forward Chris Wondolowski, who did not see game action vs. St. Vincent.
NEW REGIME IN SAN JOSE: Last week, the Earthquakes fired general manager John Doyle, who was the longest serving GM in MLS. San Jose named technical director Chris Leitch the interim GM.
QUAKES’ FRIENDLY: San Jose lost 4-3 to Mexican side CF Pachuca in a friendly on Saturday at Avaya Stadium, the clubs’ first meeting since 2002 in the CONCACAF Champions Cup.
WONDO'S WORLD: No player in MLS history has scored more goals against the Sounders than Wondolowski (9), who was held off the scoresheet when the teams met earlier this year in Seattle. Wondolowski will almost certainly reach double-digit goals again this season - he has nine so far - marking the seventh straight year he's scored at least 10 goals.
