One of the games of the year in MLS takes place tonight at Lumen Field as the top two teams in the Western Conference battle when top of the table Seattle Sounders faces second-place Sporting Kansas City.
The Rave Green are coming off of a 1-0 victory at Austin FC while the Wizards drew against ten-man San Jose. Seattle leads Sporting Kansas City by five points.
Team news
Cristian Roldan and Alex Roldan are with the United States and El Salvador at the Gold Cup, Nouhou is still absent with an adductor injury and Will Bruin (torn meniscus), Stefan Frei (blood clot) and Shane O'Neill are still missing. Xavier Arreaga returns after serving a one-game suspension for an accumulation of yellow cards.
The Wizards are without Gianluca Busio and Alan Pulido as they are on international duty with Mexico and the United States respectively at the Gold Cup. Robert Puncec is a doubt with a slight injury while Felipe Hernandez is away from the team for personal reasons with no timetable for his return.
Predicted lineups
Seattle: Cleveland; Cissoko, Gómez, Arreaga; Medrana, Atencio, Paulo, Rowe, Smith; Ruidiaz, Montero
Sporting Kansas City: Melia; Martins, Fontàs, Sánchez, Lindsey; Kinda, Espinoza, Walter; Russell, Shelton, Sallói
Ones to watch
With so many injuries, Seattle started a record five teenagers in their victory at Austin with two of them being 16-year-old Reed Baker-Whiting, earning his first MLS start, and 15-year-old Obed Vargas, the youngest starter in league history.
Daniel Salloi has experienced a resurgence this year with eight goals, third in the league behind Raul Ruidiaz of the Rave Green and Javier Hernandez of the Los Angeles Galaxy. Alan Pulido capably assists Salloi in the Kansas City attack.
Previous meeting
The Rave Green and Wizards haven't met since August of 2019 when Sporting Kansas City claimed a 3-2 victory. Felipe Gutierrez opened the scoring in the 12th minute when finished into the far side netting. He doubled his tally from the penalty spot after Nouhou fouled Gerso Fernandes.
Jordan Morris cut the Kansas City lead in half in the 46th minute after being played through by Nicolas Lodeiro. Erik Hurtado collected the ball around midfield, danced around Kee-hee Kim and made it 3-1 on a breakaway. Morris then capped the scoring after being played through by Handwalla Bwana.
How to watch
The match will be streamed nationally on ESPN+. JOEtv will have full coverage in Seattle while Bally Sports Kansas City and Bally Sports Midwest will televise all of the action in Kansas City. Kick-off is at 9pm Eastern time.