Things were going great in the Emerald City just four weeks ago; the Seattle Sounders FC had just beaten their arch-rival Portland Timbers for the second time in a week, they were on top of the Supporters' Shield race and they had a commanding 10-point lead over Real Salt Lake in the Western Conference. That was then and this is now.

Seattle has played in just two league matches since that big win at CenturyLink Field over the Timbers, they have been shutout in both. The more troubling trend right now, if you are a Sounders fan, is the ascension of the rest of the Western Conference.

There are five teams in the conference that have caught fire during the past month. Real Salt Lake, FC Dallas, Los Angeles Galaxy, Portland Timbers and San Jose Earthquakes are all averaging at least two points per game since July 13th. Those five teams have a combined record of 14 wins, six draws and two losses between them. The scary part is that after this match Seattle will play away to RSL and Portland with a home game against San Jose sandwiched between those making this match almost a must-win.

The Houston Dynamo were a different team four weeks ago as well. They had just lost their seventh match in a row after a 4-2 beating from Toronto FC from BMO Field. The worst part about was that they had only scored four goals in that seven match stretch while allowing 19. They knew that a massive defensive overhaul would be needed for Dominic Kinnear's side to even dream about a postseason berth.

Houston would make significant upgrades in their defensive mentality with two summer signings. The first was for American left-back DaMarcus Beasley. The 32-year-old player from Fort Wayne, Indiana was signed to a designated player contract after his services were not retained from Liga MX side Puebla.

They also made a big splash with the signing of a 23-year-old defensive midfielder from Olimpia in Honduras. Luis Garrido made two appearances for Honduras in the 2014 FIFA World Cup. His presence on the club allows Oscar Boniek Garcia to play in his preferred role on the wing.

Houston comes into the match in 8th place in the Eastern Conference just five points behind the Philadelphia Union for the last playoff spot. They are in a good spot with two matches in hand but they will need to get the results while they can. Four of their next seven matches are against the Union or the Columbus Crew, who currently sit in 6th place.

Seattle will once-again be forced to throw out a patch-work back four as Chad Marshall is still listed as questionable with a neck sprain suffered in a minor car accident before the match with the Los Angeles Galaxy two weeks ago. Sigi Schmid did indicate that Marshall may be available for Sunday's match barring any setbacks. 

Adductor strains have put the status of Dylan Remick and Djimi Traore as questionable as well though Schmid said that Traore was progressing well after participating in training all week. Then you have the status of DeAndre Yedlin, which is unknown after he made a trip to London late last week to reportedly finalize a transfer with Tottenham Hotspur.

Prediction: Seattle Sounders FC 2, Houston Dynamo 2