Still licking their wounds from their CONCACAF Champions Cup exit, Seattle Sounders journey to CityPark to go head to head with St Louis City on Saturday night.
Having lost each of the previous four meetings between the two sides, the Missouri outfit will head into the weekend looking to get one over the visitors and secure consecutive wins for the first time this season.
Match preview
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St Louis City turned in an attacking show of class to secure their first win of the 2025 MLS campaign last Monday when they brushed aside LA Galaxy at the Dignity Health Tennis Center.
Despite seeing just 30% of the ball possession, German forward Cedric Teuchert netted against the run of play to hand the visitors a 44th-minute lead before Marcel Hartel and Simon Becher added to the scoreline in the second half to cap off an impressive attacking display.
Before that, St Louis City were involved in a share of the spoils in each of their two matches to start the campaign, playing out a goalless draw with Colorado Rapids in February's season opener, one week before holding for a similar 0-0 stalemate against San Diego FC.
Having picked up two wins and two draws from their six pre-season matches, head coach Olof Mellberg will be satisfied with his side's start to the new season as the Missouri-based club look to improve on their 24th-placed finish in the Supporters' Shield table last season.
While St Louis are the only side yet to concede a goal this season, their defence will be put to the test this weekend as they take on an opposing side who have scored seven goals already — only Philadelphia Union (10) and Vancouver Whitecaps (8) have netted more.
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On the other hand, Seattle Sounders were dumped out of the CONCACAF Champions Cup on Tuesday as they suffered a 4-1 defeat against Mexican outfit Cruz Azul in the second leg of their round-of-16 clash at the Estadio Olimpico Universitario.
Having played out a goalless draw in the first leg on March 6, Carlos Rodriguez struck in the 33rd minute to put Cruz Azul in front and after Daniel Musovski restored parity in the 74th minute, Luka Romero and Jorge Sanchez hit the target to send the Mexicans through to the quarter-finals.
Seattle Sounders now turn focus back to MLS, where they steamrolled Los Angeles FC 5-2 at Lumen Field to record their first win of the campaign last Saturday, having managed just one point from their opening two matches.
Brian Schmetzer's men have come into the new league campaign off the back of a heart-breaking run in the 2024 playoffs, where they brushed aside Houston Dynamo and Los Angeles FC before suffering a 1-0 loss against LA Galaxy in the Western Conference final.
Seattle Sounders will be backing themselves to quickly bounce back from a midweek defeat as they take on an opposing side against whom they have won each of their previous four encounters, scoring nine goals and keeping two clean sheets since April 2023.
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Team News
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St Louis City will head into the weekend without the services of Swedish duo Joachim Nilsson and 19-year-old Rasmus Alm, who are currently recuperating from knee and hip injuries respectively.
Jake Girdwood-Reich has been out of action since suffering an ankle injury in October's game against Minnesota United and the Australian defender is also out of contention for the hosts.
American defender Jayden Reid is also yet to feature for the home side this year after suffering a foot injury in November and the 23-year-old will play no part in this weekend's clash.
As for Seattle Sounders, American midfielder Reed Baker-Whiting is currently recuperating from a hamstring injury and the 19-year-old is ruled out of the trip to CityPark.
Other than that, the visitors head into this one with a clean bill of health and no suspension concerns, giving Schmetzer the luxury of a relatively full-strength squad at his disposal.
St Louis City possible starting lineup:
Burki; Hiebert, Kessler, Horn, Totland, Wallem; Durkin, Loewen, Hartel; Klauss, Teuchert
Seattle Sounders possible starting lineup:
Thomas; Gomez, Ragen, Bell; Rienzi, Leyva, Paulo, Rothrock; De la Vega, Musovski, Ferreira
We say: St Louis City 1-0 Seattle Sounders
Reeling from their Champions Cup heartbreak, Seattle Sounders will head into Sunday looking to bounce back and put together a strong run of form in the league. However, St Louis have proven tough to crack this season and we are backing them to come away with the desired result in front of their home supporters.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
