Plenty will be at stake Monday as the Seattle Sounders look to regain sole possession of the top spot in the Western Conference, while the Los Angeles Galaxy try to secure their hold on the last playoff spot in the West.
The host Sounders will be trying for a three-game season sweep of the Galaxy. Seattle won 3-0 in Southern California in May then defeated their conference rival 2-1 at home in June.
Locking down the conference’s No. 1 playoff seed has not been as straightforward. The Sounders (17-8-7, 58 points) have lost two straight games and are 0-3-1 over their last four.
That run includes a 2-1 home defeat to Sporting Kansas City on Oct. 23. But Sporting K.C. dropped a 2-1 decision to Minnesota United on Sunday, leaving them tied with the Sounders for first place in the conference.
With just three goals over their last four games, the Sounders will search for an offensive flow with the playoffs fast approaching. And Seattle is expected to see playing time from star forward Jordan Morris, who will be eligible to play after an eight-month recovery from knee surgery.
“That’s what you think about when you’re going through a recovery like this: That first game back, that moment that you’re stepping back on the field,” Morris said, according to mlssoccer.com. “The fact that it’s so close now is pretty surreal because it’s been a long year. This whole week I’ve been really excited every morning waking up.”
The Galaxy (13-12-7, 46 points) won twice in five October games and earned points in four of those contests, but they are just 2-4-4 since the start of September.
A victory Monday will allow Los Angeles to improve its playoff seeding by leapfrogging both the Vancouver Whitecaps and Minnesota United to take over fifth place. And a victory followed by a Los Angeles FC victory over the Whitecaps on Tuesday would secure the Galaxy a playoff spot.
The Galaxy, though, will need to show more than they did in a 2-0 defeat at Sporting K.C. on Wednesday. Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez was not available with a non-COVID illness, but is expected to play against the Sounders.
“The good news for us is that we have three days of preparation going into this game to be able to set our vision for how we can go there and get a result,” Galaxy head coach Greg Vanney said. “They are going to get guys back and it will be emotional on a certain level. We need to focus our attention on what we need to do.”
The Galaxy have not won at Seattle since 2016.
–Field Level Media
