Match Preview - Seattle Sounders
Game Info
Kickoff: 9:39pm CT
Watch: Apple TV
Location: Lumen Field - Seattle, WA
All-Time H2H Record
Austin FC has a 1W-3D-4L record against Seattle Sounders.
If you’re a fan of the Verde and Black then you know that seeing the Sounders on the schedule has been a headache, historically. There have been many frustrating outings against Seattle, including the 2-1 home loss in August 2023 that saw Emiliano Rigoni robbed of what was later mathematically proven to be a goal.
But here’s an early dose of North End optimism. Austin FC have done remarkably well, at least from a results perspective, when on the road at Lumen Field. The Sounders are notoriously tough on their home turf.
Through four trips to Seattle, ATX have five points, including a 2-1 win back in May 2023 (with a starting CB pairing of Leo Väisänen and Aleksandar Radovanović) and an ugly 0-0 draw in March 2024 that saw Austin FC earn a point while generating just 0.04 xG.
Seattle Sounders Recent Form
The 15th MLS franchise, the Sounders began league play in 2009 after replacing the club with the same name that played in the APSL and USL Division One from 1994-2008. Right from the start, Seattle was a force to be reckoned with. They won the US Open Cup in their expansion season, the first of four titles to date in the historic tournament.
That trophy was a harbinger of success, as Seattle made the MLS Cup playoffs every season from 2009 until 2022, ending what was at the time the longest postseason streak in league history (since surpassed by New York Red Bulls). In addition to their US Open Cup trophies, the Sounders also won the Supporter’s Shield in 2014 and the MLS Cup in 2016 and 2019.
Seattle has made CONCACAF Champion’s League seven times and became the first MLS team to win the modern version of the tournament in 2022. Injury and exhaustion from that run to their historic CCL win was a big reason why the Sounders faltered in MLS play for the first time, failing to qualify for the playoffs that season. It was the only season in club history that the team finished lower than seventh in the Supporter’s Shield standings. Simply put, the Sounders are one of the most successful MLS franchises in league history.
Current head coach Brian Schmetzer took over in 2016, overseeing the club’s two MLS Cup titles and their CCL win. Schmetzer’s teams focus on building from the back and maintaining possession in the opponent’s half, looking to capitalize on chances to pull defenders out of their shape and attack the open space.
This is on display year over year with the Sounders, but one doesn’t have to watch the film to see that the system is still producing positive results in 2025, just look to the stats. Seattle is fifth in average possession this season at 53.8% and they’ve generated the second most touches in the opponent’s penalty area and have won the third most corners. Simply put, the Sounders will turn the screws on your defense with long bouts of sustained possession, waiting patiently for you to bite on an action and create an opportunity for them to strike.
Despite Seattle being able to dictate the pace and play-style in most of their games, they’ve dealt with some significant injuries through the first half of the season, which has kept their standing in the table in check. They’re currently tied with Austin FC on 26 points, though the Sounders have a game in hand.
New acquisition Paul Arriola, who was traded from FC Dallas for $300k GAM and a conditional first round pick in the offseason, tore his ACL just two games into the season. Two of their three DPs have also been in and out of the lineup. Pedro De La Vega has started just nine games and Jordan Morris, who led the team in scoring last year, has started just twice this season. The Sounders have also had issues keeping their back line healthy. Their top three centerbacks, Jackson Ragen, Yeimar Gomez Andrade and Kim Kee-Hee, have missed extended time in 2025, with the latter two already ruled out for Saturday’s match due to knee and calf issues, respectively.
It’s not just injury plaguing the Sounders defense coming into Saturday’s match. Centerback Jon Bell and left back Nouhou Tolo both picked up red cards in Seattle’s last league match before the Club World Cup break and will miss the fixture against Austin FC.
Speaking of the Club World Cup, Seattle could certainly be running on some tired legs this weekend. Over the last 12 days, the Sounders took on three global giants of the game, going toe-to-toe with Botafogo, Atletico Madrid and recently crowned UCL champions PSG. Austin FC on the other hand hasn’t played a competitive match since June 14.
So who is going to suit up for the Sounders in the defensive half? On Wednesday’s Episode 235 of The North End Podcast, we posited that Kee-Hee would pair with Ragen centrally, while homegrown Reed Baker-Whiting would slot in for Nouhou at left back. But that was before Sounder at Heart confirmed that Kee-Hee and Yeimar would be inactive, reporting that Alex Roldan and Cody Baker are options to fill in next to Ragen. No matter who fills those spots, the Sounders makeshift defense should have their hands full with the raw talent present in the Austin front line.
On the flip slide, the Seattle attack has been getting the job done with the personnel available to them. DP midfielder Albert Rusnak leads the team in goal contributions with seven goals and three assists. Backup striker Danny Musovski has found the back of the net five times in relief of the injured Morris, who was chugging right along before his injury, scoring three times in his 288 MLS minutes in 2025. Winger and supplemental roster player Paul Rothrock, the only Seattle player to appear in all 18 league games this season, has five goal contributions as well.
Losers of five straight games across all competitions, the Sounders will be looking to get back to winning ways at Lumen Field on Saturday, which will have the natural grass surface used during the Club World Cup still installed instead of the typical turf surface at the venue.
Austin FC Recent Form
What a difference a month makes. After the exhausting May schedule drained the enthusiasm out of the Verde faithful, Austin FC has won both of their June fixtures so far, breathing new life into the team and the fanbase. ATX scored two goals in both victories, something the team did just once across their first 17 league games, conceding just once from Brandon Vazquez’s wayward clearance attempt that ended up as an own-goal.
The six points banked have Austin FC sitting tied for fifth place on points in the Western Conference coming into the weekend with three other teams, San Jose Earthquakes, LAFC and Seattle. However, if the season ended now, ATX would be the 8th seed and host the wild card match against Colorado Rapids based off the second tiebreaker, goal differential. Still, the Verde and Black have firmly placed themselves in the playoff picture and established some breathing room between themselves and the teams still on the outside looking in. It was a promising two weeks.
Now, with just one match left in an abbreviated June schedule, the team has an opportunity to make a push towards the top four. They’re four points back of the fourth place Portland Timbers and the favorable nine-game stretch we’ve highlighted many times on the podcast is on the horizon. After Saturday’s match in Seattle, Austin comes home to host LAFC before a short turnaround to the US Open Cup quarterfinal match in San Jose. Then the “make or break” part of the schedule begins with New England Revolution visiting Q2 Stadium for the first time on July 12.
A draw on Sunday would buoy the club’s standing in the table and bring them to a total of seven points in the month of June, surely surpassing the expectations of even the most optimistic of fans (looking in the mirror here). But a win, resulting in a perfect month of results? Hoo boy, let me tell ya, that would fully replenish the hopium tanks in The North End offices.
When discussing the lineup expectations on Episode 235 there was really just one spot in the XI, the nominal left wing, that was up for real debate. With Myrto Uzuni on international duty for his native Albania against Colorado, Jon Gallagher filled in on the left in the attack before taking over for Mikkel Desler at right back. Gally did the same against NYRB, with Uzuni coming off the bench in the middle of a hectic travel week for the DP forward. I’m not upset nor surprised if the $12.3 million man gets right back into the starting group this Saturday, but also have no qualms with another Gallagher start.
While we’ve seen head coach Nico Estévez tinker with his personnel and tactics frequently through the first half of the season, it feels like the rest of the XI is settling into a nice rythym from a consistency perspective. I’d expect the other ten starters from the month of June to remain the same against the Sounders this Saturday.
Considering Seattle’s desired style of play, I will be interested to see if Austin is content to let the Sounders play with their intended possession tactics. If the defense can remain staunch as they have been for the overwhelming majority of the season, trying to pick your spots to take advantage of the irregular back line and burn Seattle on the counter attack makes some sense to me. As I said on Wednesday’s episode, good luck to Reed Baker-Whiting trying to deal with Osman Bukari. Knowing now that we’re likely to see Alex Roldan as a fill-in CB option, I could say the same to him about the physical Vazquez.
The only injury concern we’re watching out for on Friday’s official report is an update on Julio Cascante (Friday evening note: Cascante is off the injury report, but Myrto Uzuni has popped up with a hamstring issue) after the questions from Thursday’s media availability session focused on the newly released MLS All-Star roster put together by a combination of fan voting and Estévez (who will coach the MLS team in next month’s All-Star clash against Liga MX at Q2 Stadium). Jimmy Farkarlun was out with a hamstring injury before the international break, but he’s been seen back in training with the second team ahead of their home match against Sporting KC 2 on Friday. Regardless of Cascante’s health, he’s unlikely to start either way. If he’s inactive, expect another short-term agreement to call up the likes of Antonio Gomez or Nico Van Rijn. Other than that, it’s all systems go for the Verde and Black as we return to MLS play.
Injury Report
ATX:
Myrto Uzuni (Questionable - Hamstring)
SEA:
Jonathan Bell (Out - Red Card Suspension)
Nouhou Tolo (Out - Red Card Suspension)
Yeimar Gomez Andrade (Out - Hamstring)
Kim Kee-Hee (Out - Calf)
Paul Arriola (Out - Knee)
Stuart Hawkins (Out - Quad)
Seattle Sounders Players to Watch
Albert Rusnak - The Slovakian national, who turns 31 next week, is the straw that stirs the drink for Seattle. Rusnak is as much of a goal scoring threat as he is a distributor, with 17 goals and 19 assists for the Sounders since the start of the 2024 season. He also scored the winner at Q2 Stadium in Seattle’s controversial (to us!) victory back in the 2023 season. If there’s one guy we want to see the Austin defenders disrupt by putting him “on his ass” a few times on Saturday night, it’s Rusnak.
Cristian Roldan - We’ve discussed one Roldan brother earlier in this article, but it would be malpractice to leave a Seattle preview without talking about Cristian. With 37 caps for the USMNT, Roldan is a staple of the Sounders franchise, making 293 league appearances (and north of 300 overall) for the club. He was a member of both MLS Cup winning teams in Seattle as well as the 2022 CCL winning roster. Roldan is a more willing assist-man than goal scorer, but he’s incredibly sound tactically and a two-way threat that ATX will have to account for in this one.
Reed Baker-Whiting - One of the many talented homegrown products of the Sounders academy, the 20-year-old Baker-Whiting is a talented full back that has been in the Seattle system since 2016. He’s also made 12 appearances with various levels of the USYNT. After appearing in 41 games across the last two seasons totaling 1,409 minutes, including 12 starts, Baker-Whiting has played just 50 MLS minutes in 2025. With Saturday night looking like his first start of the year, he’ll have his hands full with the speedy Bukari all night.
Austin FC Keys to the Game
Take The Next Step - As Austin FC has welcomed back starters Dani Pereira and Mikkel Desler, the play on the pitch has looked more cohesive and the results have followed. ATX has lost just one of their last eight games and have positioned themselves firmly in the playoff race. To take the “next step,” they’ll need to prove themselves against some of the top teams in the Western Conference. They don’t have many opportunities left to do so in 2025, with all eight games against the current top four in the table in the rearview mirror. But the Sounders, on paper, are one of those “top” teams. If you can go into Lumen Field and bring all three points back to Austin, heads will start to turn, both locally and around MLS. It’s hard to believe it, but I’m more optimistic than my typically drunk-on-verde co-host this week. It’s time to take that next step!
Predictions
ZG - 2-1 Austin FC
E - 1-1 Draw
