For much of the season, the Seattle Sounders took us on a very enjoyable ride. From the 13-game unbeaten streak to start the year to several weeks of nine points until the League Cup final, then lifting the Cascadia Cup for the third time in a row, it’s been pretty good..

Unfortunately, the last six games haven’t been so fun. The Sounders entered the playoffs on a six-game winless streak, not necessarily playing badly but certainly not living up to the standard they had set throughout the year.

Now they have a chance to put it all behind them. After a 16-day hiatus, the Sounders face Real Salt Lake tonight in the first round of the MLS Cup playoffs. RSL has been a very unpredictable team this year. At their best, they are scoring goals in clusters. At worst, they are conceding at an even more alarming rate. In their last game, they changed formation to a defense-oriented 4-2-3-1, but mostly used an atypical 3-5-2 which places the attackers in winger positions under Pablo Mastroeni.

The Sounders should rightfully feel like the favorites, but could very easily have their hands full.

• The Sounders have won 15 straight playoff games at home, by far the longest playoff-winning streak in MLS history. Only two other teams have even had 10-game streaks in a row, and the last of those ended in 2001.
• Raúl Ruidíaz has nine goals and six assists in 10 playoff games. With another playoff goal, he would rank among the top 9 playoff scorers in MLS history. None of the other members of the current Top 8 has fewer than 21 appearances.
• The Sounders have advanced to the conference semifinals in each of the previous 12 seasons and have won at least one playoff game in each of the past eight years. Only Sporting KC has an active two-year streak in either category.
• Brian Schmetzer’s playoff record is 15-4-2, good for a 0.762 winning percentage. Bruce Arena (0.702) is the only other head coach in MLS history to have even more than 0.650.
• This is the fourth all-time playoff meeting between the Sounders and RSL. RSL won the first meeting – winning 3-2 on aggregate – but the Sounders have won the last two games, including a 2-0 victory in the 2019 playoffs.
• Fredy Montero’s 68 goals in all competitions are a Sounders franchise record, but he has yet to score a playoff goal at Rave Green. He did, however, score a playoff goal for the Whitecaps against the Sounders in 2017.

SeTotle

QUESTIONABLE: Medranda (L quad strain)

OUTSIDE: Bruin (R knee surgery); Delem (ACL R tear); Nouhou (Health and safety protocols)

RSL

OUTSIDE: Farnsworth (knee)

REFEREE: Joseph Dickerson; AR1 (bench): Logan Brown; AR2 (opposite): Chris Elliott; 4th: Victor Rivas; VAR: Timothy Ford; AVAR: Jérémy Kieso

Date of the match / kick-off time: Tuesday, 7:38 PM PST

Place: Lumen Field, Seattle

Online broadcast: Fubo TV (affiliate link)

National radio: SiriusXMFC

English national television: FS1 (John Strong & Stu Holden)

Local radio: 950/1090 KJR-AM Seattle (Costigan, Keller)

Local spanishh Radio: El Rey 1360 AM (Rodriguez, Maqueda, Tapia)

Spanish national television: Fox Sports

International television

Brazil: DAZN (Brazil)

China: Chinese sports media

Czech Republic and Slovakia: Nova Sports (Czech Republic)

Georgia: Silk Sport

Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Spain: DAZN (Europe)

India: Eurosport

Israel: Charlton

Latin America (excluding Brazil): ESPN Latin America

Middle East and North Africa: Abu Dhabi Sports

Netherlands: ESPN Netherlands

Norway: TB +

Southeast Asia and Oceania: be in sports

Sub-Saharan Africa: ESPN Africa

Sweden: C-Plus

Taiwan: Sports program

Ukraine: Football 1

United Kingdom and Ireland: Air sports / Free sports

Highlights will be posted as the match progresses.

It’s Seattle Sounders vs. RSL; watch with us

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