Seattle Sounders FC will host possibly the most surprising team in all of Major League Soccer this weekend, the Columbus Crew. The 1st place Crew will march into CenturyLink Field Saturday for an early 1 p.m. PST kickoff. The game will be broadcast locally on KONG 6/16 and can be found on radio at 97.3 KIRO FM and 99.3 La Gran D FM.
The Saturday matinee will see two of the league’s best teams face off when the Sounders host the Crew. Sounders FC are in 2nd place with 45 points and a 12-5-9 league record. The Rave Green boasts a 6-2-4 home record this season and has yet to lose to the Crew in MLS league play.
Columbus on the other hand sit atop the East in 1st place carrying 40 points of their own into the match with a 11-7-7 league record but have only scored eight goals on the road this season being shutout six times. Their road record is 3-6-3 in those twelve matches. Both clubs are virtually locked into making the postseason playoffs, and their remaining fixtures will go a long way toward determining playoff seeding.
Self proclaimed “America’s hardest working team”, the Crew are playing in top team form winning four of their last five league fixtures and have claimed an amazing 25 points in their last thirteen matches. That run has seen the Crew vault up the league table and is now four points clear of surging Sporting Kansas City.
These two squads focus their energy and tactics in very different ways on the pitch. The Sounders enjoy playing a very open style of attacking play pushing the ball through quick passes and maintaining possession. Seattle has been a club that has found goals from all over the field, but will have a tough time unlocking the stingy Crew defense. “The Fighting Canaries” lay claim to one of the league’s best defenses conceding only 24 goals against in 25 games, third best in MLS. Although they will have a patchwork D for this match, and will most likely be starting one of their rookies in the center of that defense. The Crew has found success netting a goal whenever they can and playing very tight on defense throughout.
Despite their success this season, Columbus has yet to leave Seattle with a win in any competition since Seattle joined MLS. They have tied twice in Seattle during league play while losing 2-1 in the U.S. Open Cup championship game in 2010.
Sounders FC will look to continue their good form this summer playing in three different competitions. Last Tuesday the Green and Blue posted a historic victory down in Mexico competing in Champions League play. They ended reigning champion Monterrey’s thirteen game unbeaten streak in CCL play. The Sounders became only the second MLS club to win on Mexican soil and have claimed all six points in their first two Group D matches. The team will now shift their focus back to league play for Saturday’s fixture, just three days before a semifinal matchup versus FC Dallas in the U.S. Open Cup. If the Sounders are able to claim victory on Tuesday, they will again host the USOC final on October 4th.
(image courtesy of mlssoccer.com)
