Seattle Sounders vs. Sporting Kansas City | 2017 MLS Match Preview

Charles Boehm

Seattle Sounders vs. Sporting Kansas City
2017 MLS Regular Season
CenturyLink Field - Seattle, Wash.
Saturday, Aug. 12 - 4 p.m. ET
WATCH: MLS LIVE

Sporting KC face a tough test this weekend, as they travel halfway across the continent to visit Seattle hard on the heels of Wednesday's US Open Cup semifinal clash with the San Jose Earthquakes.

It's a prime opportunity for the Sounders to seek revenge on Western Conference rivals who've tormented them in recent years. Sporting dominated Seattle in a 3-0 win at Children's Mercy Park marked by a Gerso hat trick earlier this year, and beat them by the same scoreline in an even more one-sided game a little over a year ago, a result that helped trigger the departure of longtime Sounders head coach Sigi Schmid.

Even their last regular season meeting in the Emerald City broke KC's way, as the Midwesterners snatched a 1-0 road win on opening day of the 2016 season via a speculative long-range effort by the since-departed Nuno Coelho.

Saturday's affair features two of the hottest teams in MLS, with Seattle 4-0-3 in their last seven matches and Sporting having not tasted defeat since May 27.

Seattle Sounders

Suspended: None
Int'l Duty: None
Injury Report: QUESTIONABLE: M - Osvaldo Alonso (left MCL sprain)

Projected Starting XI (4-2-3-1, left to right): Stefan Frei – Kelvin Leerdam, Roman Torres, Chad Marshall, Joevin Jones – Cristian Roldan, Gustav Svensson – Nicolas Lodeiro, Clint Dempsey, Jordan Morris – Will Bruin

Notes: Seattle have lost just one game at home this season, making them one of seven teams with one or fewer losses at home in 2017 ... the Sounders have conceded just nine goals at home, tied for the fourth fewest in the league ... Clint Dempsey’s brace against Minnesota last weekend was his second multi-goal game in his last three MLS appearances; he had scored just five goals across his previous 15 regular-season games in 2017.

Sporting Kansas City

Suspended: None
Int'l Duty: None
Injury Report: OUT: Cameron Porter (broken fibula and ligament damage in right ankle 8/2, out for season) - REPORT

Projected starting lineup (4-3-3, R-L): Tim Melia – Graham Zusi, Ike Opara, Matt Besler, Jimmy Medranda – Benny Feilhaber, Ilie, Roger Espinoza –Latif Blessing, Diego Rubio, Gerso

Notes: Sporting KC have gone unbeaten against the Sounders in the regular season since the start of 2015, conceding just one goal in six games (4W-2D) ... Sporting are unbeaten in their least three road games ... After Jacob Peterson’s late equalizer for Atlanta on Sunday, SKC have conceded 39 percent of their goals against in the last 15 minutes of games this year (seven of 18 total goals), the highest percentage in the league over that span.