In the lone MLS contest taking place on Sunday, the Columbus Crew begin a three-game road trip when they take on the Seattle Sounders at Lumen Field.

Last Saturday, the Rave Green moved up to fifth in the Western Conference thanks to a 2-0 triumph over Austin FC, while the Crew sit fourth in the East, blanking the Philadelphia Union 1-0 the last time out.

Match preview

It was a difficult month of June for the Seattle Sounders, though it ended on a positive note last weekend against a solid defensive unit in Austin FC.

Brian Schmetzer’s men ended a five-match losing run across all competitions in their previous game, after exiting the Club World Cup without a single point.

That triumph against the Verde and Black also enabled them to avoid consecutive home defeats in MLS for the first time all year, with the Sounders winning five of their last six domestic encounters at Lumen Field.

As things stand, they are comfortably in a playoff position, six points above that line in the West, and are separated by just a single point for fourth place, which is currently occupied by the Portland Timbers.

Seattle have won their last five regular season home outings when netting the opening goal, all of which were clean sheets, while they have yet to lose domestically at Lumen Field in 2025 when drawing first blood.

The Rave Green are unbeaten in their last four league contests at home versus the Crew, posting two clean sheets against them over that stretch.

A pulverizing 5-1 defeat versus Inter Miami before the international break seems to have served as a massive wake-up call for the Columbus Crew.

Since that loss, Wilfried Nancy’s men have won three consecutive league fixtures, two of which were against sides currently in the hunt for the Supporters’ Shield, the Philadelphia Union (1-0) and Vancouver Whitecaps (2-1).

Those victories were all in the friendly confines of Lower.com Field, and on Sunday, they will try to end a four-match winless run away from home in this competition, losing those last two road games by a combined margin of 8-3.

With another triumph on Sunday, the Crew would extend their winning run to four matches, their longest streak in this competition since June to July of last year (five games).

Seven times already this season, the Crew have conceded the opening goal in this competition but come away with something, earning 13 points in that position.

They are unbeaten in their last five regular-season away contests against Western Conference opposition, including a 2-1 win at St Louis City in April.

Seattle Sounders Major League Soccer form:

Seattle Sounders form (all competitions):

Columbus Crew Major League Soccer form:

Team News

Against Austin, the Sounders were without Kim Kee-Hee, who was dealing with a calf strain, Yeimar Gomez Andrade was sidelined with a muscle injury, Paul Arriola had a cruciate ligament tear and Reed Baker-Whiting will miss this match through suspension.

Jesus Ferreira and Daniel Musovski found the back of the net in that prior contest, while Stefan Frei only had to make one stop to collect the clean sheet.

Columbus could be missing their top two goalkeepers with Patrick Schulte recovering from an abdominal issue, and Nicholas Hagen suffering a muscle injury at the CONCACAF Gold Cup with Guatemala, while Rudy Camacho is questionable with a hamstring strain.

Mohamed Farsi had the only goal in their victory against the Union last weekend, while Evan Bush did not have to make a single save to collect a clean sheet.

Seattle Sounders possible starting lineup:

Frei; Kossa-Rienzi, A. Roldan, Ragen, Baker; Vargas, C. Roldan; Ferreira, Rusnak, De la Vega; Musovski

Columbus Crew possible starting lineup:

Bush; Moreira, Zawadzki, Cheberko; Farsi, Nagbe, Jackson, Lappalainen; Chambost, Gazdag; Rossi

We say: Seattle Sounders 1-1 Columbus Crew

In two of the previous three meetings between these teams in Seattle, no more than two goals were scored, and we expect that sort of match featuring two resourceful sides who do not leave their opponents with a lot of space.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

Written by
Joel Lefevre

Previews by email