The Seattle Sounders will be playing their second game in four days when they host the Colorado Rapids on Wednesday night at CenturyLink Field. The Sounders are coming off a 0-0 draw to Sporting KC over the weekend while the Rapids beat a declining Vancouver Whitecaps 1-0 at home on Saturday night.

This will be the second meeting between the two clubs on the year and the second in just over a month. The Sounders came away with a 3-1 victory over the Rapids at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. Lamar Neagle led the Sounders with two goals and Obafemi Martins sealed the deal with his goal of the week in the 73rd minute.

The win against the Rapids catapulted the Sounders on their current run. It led them to a three game winning streak and helped them to a record of 4-1-1 in their last six. Colorado hasn’t tasted defeat since their loss to the Sounders. They have gone 1-1-4 in that time and will be looking to continue their unbeaten streak in Seattle. The Rapids have never won in Seattle. They have won just once against Seattle over the last four seasons, a 5-1 victory on Oct. 5, 2013 in Commerce City. Since 2011, the Sounders have won 11 of 13 meetings in regular season and playoffs to go with one draw in that time as well.

The Rapids will be without two of their players, Dillon Serna and Shane O’Neill. Both will be away on international duty with the United States U-23 men’s national team. The Sounders may or may not be with Martins. He has missed the Sounders last two matches with a tibia contusion. Chad Barrett has filled in nicely while Martins has been out, but it is now time for Martins to come back. With Martins and Clint Dempsey on the pitch together, they are almost unstoppable. Gonzalo Pineda also suffered an ankle injury against Sporting KC and will be questionable going into the match.

If Colorado wants to walk out with a win against Seattle in Seattle, they will need to possibly play a similar game plan that Sporting KC used this past weekend. Sporting rarely pressured the Sounders in their defensive third, but as soon as the Sounders crossed midfield, Sporting attacked and put pressure on the players with the ball at their feet.

The Rapids have the players to hurt Seattle on the counter-attack. It will be interesting to see what approach they come out with Wednesday night. Will they come after them like they did in April and go full out attack and leave themselves vulnerable to the counter-attack or will they play smart on the road and hope for one point?

Rapids Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni is looking for his first ever win against the Sounders. He is currently 0-4-0 in four meetings against the Sounders. Schmid has a record of 12-2-2 as the coach in Seattle and an overall record of 26-11-8 in his career against the Rapids.

The man in the middle for this one is none other than Ricardo Salazar. Salazar has a bit of history in Seattle and it will be interesting to see how he calls the game. Many in Seattle, Head Coach Sigi Schmid included, do not like it when Salazar is the man in the center.

You may be asking why they controversy? Well, here are some examples. Salazar officiated the 2012 U.S. Open Cup between the Sounders and Sporting KC. He handed out six yellows, all to the Sounders. He also allowed Sporting to retake a kick after he determined Michael Gspurning came off his line too early. Sporting made the retake and eventually won the match.

One last example being when Salazar refereed a match between Chivas USA and the Sounders.  Late in the game, Salazar gave a straight red to Martins in the 71st minute of their 2-0 win over Chivas after a “tussle” with Gabriel Farfan. MLS eventually rescinded the card and Martins was allowed to play the next match.

These are just two examples of some “fishy” calls against the Sounders and that is why it will be interesting to see how this one plays out in the end.