Sounders FC vs. LA Galaxy
MLS Regular Season
Sunday, October 19; 5:00 pm PT; StubHub Center
TV/Radio: ESPN2; KIRO Radio 97.3 FM; ESPN Deportes Radio, 1490 AM (Spanish)
Five days after announcing the launch of its USL Pro team, Sounders FC has another chance to make club history.
The first of two opportunities for the Sounders to clinch their first Supporters’ Shield is Sunday at 5:00 pm PT, when they face the LA Galaxy at the StubHub Center. The two teams are tied on points and no other club can catch them. If they remain tied after their upcoming home-and-home series, Seattle will finish in first place due to its advantage in total wins.
So while they have a couple of chances to do it, the Sounders are looking to end the race as soon as possible.
“We don’t want to save it for when we come back home,” defender Chad Marshall said. “We’d rather do it down there. I don’t know what to expect. It’s going to be crazy. I’m just excited to get down there.”
LA has been on a roll at home in the past couple of months, winning its last seven matches at the StubHub Center and conceding just two goals in that stretch. But the Sounders come in as the highest-scoring road team in MLS, and they will be looking to get revenge for the Galaxy’s 3-0 win at CenturyLink Field in July.
Gyasi Zardes scored in the eighth minute of that match, one of three first-half goals for LA that led to Seattle’s first home loss in nearly four months.
“Last time, they came into our house and put a whooping on us,” Seattle captain Brad Evans said. “So we have to look at what they did well and what they’ve done over the course of the season.”
A few of Sounders FC’s key contributors have gone through injuries since that loss, but Head Coach Sigi Schmid expects to have a healthy squad for Sunday. Zach Scott, Leo Gonzalez, and Gonzalo Pineda all fully participated in training this week. Clint Dempsey and DeAndre Yedlin are back with the team after playing in the U.S. National Team’s friendly on Tuesday.
The Galaxy could be without midfielder Robbie Rogers, who suffered a hamstring strain two weeks ago and missed LA’s match against FC Dallas last weekend.
Whether or not Rogers is in the lineup, the Sounders know they will need to be wary of LA’s counter attacks.
“They’re an arrogant team in the sense that they figure you’re going to lose the ball,” Schmid said. “So sometimes they don’t defend honestly...They’re good in transition, and they bank on the fact that you’re going to make a mistake.”
Robbie Keane has 19 goals and 14 assists this season to head the Galaxy’s attack, while Obafemi Martins leads the Sounders with 17 goals and 10 assists, including four goals in the last three games. The final two regular-season matches could decide which of those players wins this year’s MVP award.
If Martins and the Sounders win at LA for the first time since 2009, the Supporters’ Shield and top seed in the MLS Cup Playoffs will be theirs.
“We all know that it’s going to be a difficult game,” Martins said. “It’s like a final to us. We will do our best to get the three points.”
