Match Preview - Seattle Sounders
Game Info
Kickoff: 8:40pm CT
Watch: Apple TV
Location: Lumen Field - Seattle, WA
All-Time H2H Record
Austin FC has a 3W-3D-8L all-time record against Seattle Sounders.
The Verde and Black won the first meeting of the season between these two teams just a few weeks back, a 3-1 result buoyed by a pair of assists from Ervin Torres off the bench late in the second half.
ATX has only come out of Lumen Field victorious once, a 2-1 win that included the first Austin FC goal for Gyasi Zardes.
Seattle Sounders Recent Form
The Sounders are currently embroiled in the worst run of form in the club's extensive history of success. Seattle fans have never suffered through a drought like the one they are currently experiencing.
The team has not won an MLS match since May 13 against San Jose and are losers of seven straight league games. They were also eliminated from Leagues Cup after earning just three points in Phase 1 of the tournament, thanks to a 3-0 win over Querétaro.
As if the losing streak wasn't bad enough on its own, the Sounders also suffered their worst-ever defeat to their biggest rival, the Portland Timbers, by a 5-1 scoreline on July 16. They also just took another 2-0 “Cascadia Cup” loss to Vancouver at home on Sunday night. During the streak they’ve been outscored 16-3 on aggregate in MLS play dating back to May 16 and also lost to Wooden Spoon contenders Austin FC and Philadelphia Union in a three-day span to close out the month of July.
To say that things are going poorly for the Rave Green is putting it nicely.
During this stretch Seattle has been ravaged by injuries and will be without key contributors all over the field come Wednesday night when Austin shows up at Lumen Field. Designated player Pedro De La Vega, who made his season debut during Leagues Cup, seems to be done for the year with what head coach Brian Schmetzer called a significant quad injury that may require surgery after the player had to be subbed off after just 13 minutes. The team was incredibly excited about his return, not only for his talent, but to bolster the depth in general.
Just another knock for a team that has been without the likes of Yeimar Gomez, Cristian Roldan, Alex Roldan, Jordan Morris, Paul Arriola, Nikola Petkovic and Kim Kee-Hee, among others, for extended periods of time this season. On top of that, Jesus Ferreira came off injured in the first half on Sunday night against Vancouver.
These are unprecedented waters for Seattle, currently sitting in 11th place with 24 points and a 7W-3D-8L record as they try to find a way to get above the playoff line. Their fan base is used to consistent success and this poor run of form has left some fans calling for Schmetzer's job and asking for players to be replaced.
Despite dropping three points in the last matchup, I believe Seattle is ecstatic to be welcoming an equally disappointing Austin FC side to town as they look to get back on the right track before it's too late.
It’s going to be a desperate and makeshift Sounders side with their backs up against the wall in this match. Despite the recent form for the home team, Austin coming to town has been a welcome sight for opponents in 2026.
Austin FC Recent Form
Snap back to reality! I hope everyone has remained buckled tightly while cheering for this team in 2026, as the whiplash of watching performances like the one against Club América contrasts sharply with whatever was going on inside the lines on Sunday night against FC Dallas.
While some remained skeptical, including me, after Austin's Leagues Cup Phase 1 performance, it was impossible to take away from what the team had accomplished in that tournament thus far.
While Puebla and Tijuana were clearly not very talented teams, América absolutely was. Putting together 90 minutes of cohesive, competent soccer against the likes of Las Águilas was impressive. The shortcomings that had plagued the team since making the switch to interim head coach Davy Arnaud right before the World Cup break were not nearly as prominent as they had been in the MLS contests leading up to the first fixture in Leagues Cup.
For a fan base desperate to latch onto anything hopeful this season, any sign of life would be viewed as a life raft in tumultuous waters.
It appears there may have been a hole in that metaphorical boat that we were overlooking as league play resumed last weekend, because Austin returned to their disjointed and uninspiring form against one of our biggest rivals in FC Dallas.
The damage from the first half of that game would have ended up being minimal if Austin hadn't conceded in the waning moments of stoppage time. Dallas had thoroughly outplayed them in every phase of the game, but ATX almost escaped to the break unscathed.
As mentioned on the pod many times, I believe the work rate and will to win have been consistent from the guys for most of the season, but that fight was not there from the onset of this Copa Tejas contest.
Pair that uninspired play with what most fans have interpreted as a confusing approach to trying to win soccer games and it becomes a recipe for disaster. The demons that Austin had appeared to have vanquished in Leagues Cup reared their ugly heads once more, as the backline was utterly disjointed against a rather pedestrian Dallas offense and the attacking phase was nonexistent for the home side.
Congestion at the back, matched with confusion over assignments in the most dangerous zones of the field led to opportunity after opportunity for our rivals to the north, culminating in an inexcusable lapse on the defensive side of the ball. Petar Musa's game-deciding goal in the 73rd minute was birthed from the indecisiveness in a critical moment and spelled death for Austin’s chances when the golden boot leader was left alone inside the area.
Potentially more baffling than the tactics and formation Davy Arnaud and his staff are rolling out as of late is the exile of Jayden Nelson from the rotation. If you're a fan of some classic North End angry rants, then you'll love what took place in Episode 326 when discussing the speedy Canadian winger.
Nelson, who has played a mere 52 of the 630 minutes available since the World Cup ended, is clearly in the midst of a bitter battle with the coaching staff. It's abundantly clear that the player is a plus asset on the field, so why can't the coaching staff figure out how to utilize him?
For a team that is struggling to generate chances and quality looks in league play, Nelson must find a way onto the field. If he's not going to play, as an ascending 23-year-old winger who was named to the Canadian World Cup squad, then he needs to be sold for GAM to a team that has a staff competent enough to utilize his tremendous skill set.
Injury Report
ATX:
Owen Wolff (Out - Ankle)
SEA:
Paul Arriola - (Out - Calf)
Pedro de la Vega - (Out - Quad)
Hassani Dotson - (Out - Hamstring)
Yeimar Gómez Andrade - (Out - Calf)
Jordan Morris - (Out - Quad)
Jesus Ferreira - (Out - Hamstring)
Nikola Petkovic - (Out - Knee)
Cristian Roldan - (Questionable - Quad)
Seattle SOunders Players to Watch
Paul Rothrock - The Sounders academy player has worked his way up the ranks after joining the program in 2016. He is a beloved homegrown talent who has truly blossomed into a solid MLS player. Rothrock had his breakout season last year with 11 goal contributions in 33 appearances and has solidified himself as a key piece in Seattle’s choice XI. He was rewarded with a new contract to remain with the Sounders in the offseason after being a highly sought after free agent in the winter. Rothrock won’t pop off the screen with elite athleticism or advanced talent, but he has a great motor and utilizes excellent timing and crafty movement to create opportunities for himself and his teammates by drawing defenses out of formation. While he may not be the top talking point on any scouting report, he needs to be accounted for as his movement generates chances for Seattle’s more formidable attacking players.
Albert Rusnak - Now in his fifth season with the Sounders and tenth in MLS, Rusnak is the engine of the Seattle midfield. He was a winger as a youth player but has since been converted to more of a playmaker, pulling the strings for the bevy of talented attacking teammates surrounding him in Seattle (at least when the team has some semblance of health). The 32-year-old Czech national is the highest paid player on the roster and has been worth every penny during his Sounders tenure, recording two straight 20+ goal contribution seasons coming into 2026. To put that into perspective, only two players have ever achieved a single statistical season of that magnitude for ATX, Sebastián Driussi and Diego Fagundez, both in the 2022 season.
Austin FC Keys to the Game
Now or Never - Despite advancing to the knockout stage of Leagues Cup, it’s hard to envision a path for Austin to salvage anything from this 2026 MLS campaign. The most probable “accolade,” as things stand right now, is the Wooden Spoon. With the most recent loss to FC Dallas, time is running out to attempt to fight into the wild card spots in the Western Conference table. Not bringing home any points from this game pushes that playoff line further towards a fast-fading horizon. It’s now or never for the Verde and Black.
Predictions
ZG - 1-1 Draw
E - 0-0 Draw
