The Seattle Sounders return to action on Saturday north of the border against Sebastian Giovinco and Toronto FC for the teams' only game of the season. Here’s a breakdown of everything you need to know about the game.
WHEN AND WHERE: Kickoff is Saturday at 4:30 p.m. PT at BMO Field.
WHERE TO WATCH: The game will be telecast on JOEtv and ROOT Sports (Outside Seattle). Check out the full list of Sounders FC Pub Partners here.
WHERE TO LISTEN: The game will be aired on KIRO Radio 97.3 FM with a pregame show beginning at 4:00 p.m. PT and El Rey 1360AM in Spanish.
RECORDS AND STANDINGS: Sounders (5-9-1, 16 pts., 9th in Western Conference), Toronto (5-6-4, 19 pts., 7th in Eastern Conference).
ALL-TIME HISTORY: This series belongs to the Sounders. Since the 2009 MLS expansion, the Rave Green have gone 7-2-1 against Toronto FC, including 4-1-0 in the last five. Both teams, however, are coming into this match in poor form, with Toronto having only earned five points in their last six league matches and Seattle only three.
CAPTAIN’S CALL: The Sounders dropped their last league game 2-0 to NYCFC at home on June 25, and the effort prompted some rare and candid comments from captain Brad Evans. “I’ve never in a game had to scream so many times for people to wake up…it should be a given that you have to work your a-- off at home.” View the full interview here.
TIGHT TURNAROUNDS: Both sides will be facing a short rest between matches this week, as the Sounders competed in the US Open Cup against Real Salt Lake on Tuesday and Toronto play the Vancouver Whitecaps on Wednesday in the Canadian Championship. The Sounders were able to pull out a dramatic win over Real Salt Lake on Tuesday, but it's unclear how many of the players who suited up at Rio Tinto Stadium will play on Saturday after short rest.
RETURN OF THE STARS (AND STRIPES): Clint Dempsey is back in Seattle after the United States national team’s Copa America run ended last weekend. Dempsey led the team in scoring with three goals in the tournament and enjoyed a bit of a resurgence with the USMNT on the international stage, but it's unclear if he'll play against Toronto or if the coaching staff will rest him after more than a month of duty with the U.S. On the Toronto side, midfielder Michael Bradley is also back from US duty but will be sidelined for six weeks with a knee sprain.
INJURY UPDATE: Barring any setbacks in training this week, the Sounders will travel to Toronto at full strength. Forward Nelson Valdez started and logged 100 minutes in the team's lengthy USOC match on Tuesday, a sure sign that he has recovered from the injury setbacks that plagued him before the Copa America tournament began.
ALTI-DOWN: Toronto forward and U.S. star Jozy Altidore is recovering from a hamstring strain that kept him out of the Copa America tournament this summer. The injury was suffered on May 14 and initially given a timeline of six to eight weeks for recovery, likely leaving Altidore out of this game. Goalkeeper Clint Irwin also went down in last week’s match in Orlando, and will be out for six weeks with a quadriceps strain.
SQUASHING THE ATOMIC ANT: Jozy or no Jozy, Toronto still have the reigning MLS MVP in Sebastian Giovinco. Fresh off of his debut season in which he logged 22 goals and 16 assists, the Atomic Ant is back at it again with eight goals and six assists so far this season. Giovinco is arguably still the league’s best player, he is healthy and the Sounders back four will need to be wise to his tricks, if they are to win on the road this weekend.
HERC’S REVENGE: Herculez Gomez finalized his transfer over to the Sounders in March of this year from Toronto FC and immediately had some less than rosy words for his former employers. “The situation with Toronto was difficult… The poor mismanagement in the front office put me in a very hard spot” Expect Gomez to play with a chip on his shoulder this weekend.
BRAND NEW BMO: The Sounders will face unfamiliar territory in more ways than one this weekend in Toronto. BMO Field reopened in May after renovations kept the Reds on the road for the first eight weeks of the season. The new stadium boasts an elevated capacity of 30,000 up from 22,000, a canopy roof to trap in crowd noise and a surface of real grass.
