The Seattle Sounders enter uncharted territory on Saturday as the team travels to Snapdragon Stadium to face San Diego FC for the first time in club history (7:30 p.m. PT; Watch on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, 950 KJR AM, El Rey 1360AM).
Two of the best possession-based teams in the league, the match will undoubtedly be a competitive one.
“We'll see who can win that battle,” said Head Coach Brian Schmetzer.
San Diego’s been off to a strong start as an expansion team, collecting three wins, two ties and one loss in their first six matches. With the help of players like winger Anders Dreyer, who leads the team in goals scored (3) and center back Christopher McVey coming up clutch in the backline with 87.5% of his aerial duels won and a 75% success rate in tackles, San Diego currently ranks third in the Western Conference standings.
But the Sounders have a history of shaking up expansion teams’ records in the midst of their success. The most recent instance was in 2023, when Seattle defeated St. Louis City SC 3-0, slashing their 6-match undefeated streak.
The expectation is to do the same to San Diego on Saturday.
“We're looking forward to playing there and hopefully spoiling the party,” said defender Jackson Ragen.
To ensure a positive outcome, the Sounders will need to be aware of San Diego’s high press.
“[We need] to just contain them and keep them in front of us,” said Ragen. “They like to keep possession, but they're also going to make a lot of runs in behind. So [it’s about] just making it difficult for them.”
With that awareness, also comes with knowing when to turn the home side’s pressure into an opportunity to counterattack.
“We're going to try to play out and maybe bring them out, invite them to press, and then hopefully it'll create some space in behind,” added Ragen. “And once we break a line, then we'll get our midfielders facing forward and get some runs in behind.”
San Diego’s 4-3-3 formation will also give the Sounders an opening to expose the wings with the skill and quickness provided by players like Paul Rothrock, Georgi Minoungou and Pedro de la Vega to name a few.
But, it will ultimately come down to "making plays," according to Schmetzer, to come away with a win on the road.
“We had a lot of shots against San Jose and a lot of good things, but we have to finish the ball,” he said. “We still need to make sure that we're good in certain areas, and make sure that we possess the ball in the right spots, be aggressive, because we can't defend for 90 minutes, and then hopefully somebody's going to do something and help us score a goal so we can play from the front, play with the lead.”
