The Seattle Sounders host LAFC on Friday in their second meeting of the 2020 MLS regular season. Here is everything you need to know.
WHEN AND WHERE: Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. PT at CenturyLink Field.
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 on El Rey 1360 AM.
2020 RECORDS AND STANDINGS: Sounders: 5-2-3 (18 points, 2nd West), LAFC: 4-4-3 (15 points, 4th West)
FORM GUIDE (most recent first): Seattle: WLDWW, LAFC: WLLWL
ALL-TIME HISTORY: The Sounders are 2-4-1 all time against LAFC, including a 1-1-1 mark at home.
PREVIOUS MEETING: Seattle blitzed LAFC 3-1 at CenturyLink Field on Aug. 30 behind a second-half brace from Jordan Morris and a first-half stunner from Raúl Ruidíaz. The Sounders exacted revenge on the Black and Gold from their 4-1 defeat in the knockout rounds of the MLS is Back tournament (the result did not count toward either side’s regular-season record).
MORE MORRIS MAGIC: The 25-year-old Homegrown winger is in the best form of his career. After a blistering performance last week against the San Jose Earthquakes that earned him MLS Player of the Week honors for the second time this season, Morris now has six goals and five assists in just seven starts in 2020.
If you examine Morris’ production over his last 34 MLS appearances including the postseason, he has 16 goals and 12 assists. That’s a goal and an assist behind Sounders legend Obafemi Martins’ 2014 season and two more combined goals and assists than Atlanta United’s Miguel Almirón’s 2018 campaign. Martins and Almirón each finished in the top three in the Landon Donovan MLS MVP award voting in those respective years.
Those statistical comparisons are not meant to compare Morris the player to Martins and Almirón, but rather to demonstrate that his current production levels are nearing some of the best to ever come through MLS.
RUIDÍAZ ROLLING: The Sounders’ lethal No. 9 is coming off a staggering two-goal, two-assist match against San Jose that earned him a spot on MLS Team of the Week. Ruidíaz now has seven goals and three assists in just 10 matches this season, and he’s scored three goals in two matches against LAFC since joining MLS.
DIEGO DIALED IN: LAFC winger Diego Rossi leads the league with 10 goals so far this season, including one in LAFC’s much-needed 4-2 win over the Portland Timbers last weekend. The clinical 22-year-old Uruguayan has had to step up even more this season without…
NO VELA, NO … PROBLEM?: Carlos Vela missed the entirety of the MLS is Back tournament and has now missed the club’s last five matches with a knee injury. LAFC still lead MLS in goals scored, but their attack lacks its devastating focal point in the reigning MLS MVP.
DEFENSE OPTIONAL: A main reason why LAFC has struggled so far this season is because they’ve shipped 24 goals in just 11 matches, which is second-worst in the entire league. Only the Earthquakes, who the Sounders just hung a touchdown on, have conceded more times than Bob Bradley’s bunch. The return of central midfield cog Eduard Atuesta, who before making a substitute appearance against Portland last week had missed five consecutive matches with an injury, will likely help moving forward.
MATCHDAY TUNE IN REMINDER
Find out where and when to tune in for home and away matches.
