Sounders-Sporting Kansas City preview

Two teams below the red line on the Western Conference table collide Sunday, when shorthanded Sporting KC hosts the Seattle Sounders at Children's Mercy Park.

The Sounders have been mired with inconsistency this season and been unable build off a recent big 5-0 win over first-place FC Dallas. They've dropped two games since that big win, including a 4-2 loss to the Los Angeles Galaxy in U.S. Open Cup play on Wednesday.

"We've got to buckle down," captain center back Brad Evans told the team's website after the loss to the Galaxy on Wednesday. "Just keep saying the same thing every week, but that's how you have to approach it. It's a bit of a Groundhog Day, even when you're winning. It's keep doing the same thing. And when you're losing, you've got to keep doing the same things that we've talked about: put your head down, work, sacrifice yourself for the team, all the things everybody's read in the press. We've just got to keep working and bang away some goals and hopefully that changes the outlook for us."

Sporting KC (8-10-4) has experienced similar inconsistency this season and sits in seventh place, but just one point behind sixth-place Portland. They followed up back-to-back wins over New York City FC and Columbus with back-to-back shutout losses to Chicago and Colorado, and now find themselves with a rash of injuries heading into Sunday's game.

Sporting KC could be missing as many as five key contributors, including emerging center back Nuno Coelho, who has been ruled out with a hamstring injury. Defender Matt Besler, an MLS All-Star, also will miss the game after suffering an injury while training this week.

"He's definitely not going to play this weekend, and he won't be going to the All-Star Game," Sporting KC coach Peter Vermes told the team's site Friday. "You tweak (a ligament), and it just takes time for it to shrink back to where it normally is."

The injuries to Coelho and Besler leaves the Sporting KC defense depleted, but will Seattle be able to take advantage?

The Sounders are 2-7-1 in their last 10 league games and have only one road win on the season. Seattle has owned the series against Sporting KC, however, going 7-3-3 all-time.