Galaxy-Sounders preview
The Los Angeles Galaxy opens the second half of the MLS campaign with a trip to the Pacific Northwest and into the din of CenturyLink Field to face the reeling Seattle Sounders FC and a new head man calling the shots.
It will be the first match ever for the Sounders without longtime manager Sigi Schmid on the bench. Schmid, who's coached Seattle since its inception in 2009, left the club after the Sounders' 3-0 loss to Sporting Kansas City on July 24 on mutual terms and was replaced by assistant coach Brian Schmetzer.
This will be the third matchup between Seattle and Los Angeles this month, including a 4-2 win by the Galaxy on July 20 in US Open Cup play and a 1-0 victory by the Galaxy in Seattle in league play on July 9.
Seattle was only 6-12-2 and had but 20 points this season under Schmid's tutelage, and are in the midst of a stretch of five losses in its last seven matches.
In their loss to Sporting Kansas City on Tuesday, the Sounders had only one shot and none on goal. Seattle has scored only 20 goals in 30 matches and its minus-7 goal differential is the worst in the league, by far.
Los Angeles coach Bruce Arena said he would miss matching strategy against Schmid, his long-time rival.
"After all the success he's had there and what he's brought to that club, I would have loved to, obviously, seen Sigi stay -- I thought he earned that," Arena said Thursday.
"(Seattle) needed to do what they think is right for their club. I know the ownership group there, the management group -- they're good people. I don't have to agree with that, but that's the way it came down."
The Galaxy (9-3-8, 35 points) enter Sunday's match in third place in the Western Conference. They've won a league-leading four straight matches and are in the midst of an eight-game unbeaten run (including US Open Cup contests) since June 18.
Los Angeles is 9-4-6 all-time in MLS play against the Sounders and has feasted on the league's Cascadia-based teams this season, forging a 3-0-2 combined record against Seattle, Portland and Vancouver in 2016.