Red Bulls-Sounders Preview
The Seattle Sounders are in position to post four straight regular-season shutouts for the first time in their MLS history.
The New York Red Bulls scored in every game before getting blanked in their last two.
The Sounders hope to contain Bradley Wright-Phillips and the Red Bulls in Sunday's matchup at CenturyLink Field.
A banner day for MLS features two games comprising the four conference finalists from a year ago. Seattle (7-3-2) and New York (4-2-5) both lost in that round.
The Sounders look poised to return, if not go further, with a defense yielding a league-low 0.75 goals per game. Stefan Frei has posted three straight clean sheets, including Wednesday's 1-0 win over Colorado in which he made four saves.
Fatigue could be a factor with Seattle playing its third match in nine days. That won't be an issue for the Red Bulls, who suffered their first home loss 2-0 to Philadelphia last Sunday after a scoreless draw with FC Dallas in their previous game.
"They're going to be plenty of bumps in the road and it hasn't deterred us in any way, and after the Philly game, I think we had a good, hard talk amongst all of us and we feel like we're moving in the right direction but we can do more," New York coach Jesse Marsch said.
Wright-Phillips, who tied a single-season MLS record with 27 goals in 2014, has been limited to two shots on goal in the last two games. He has a team-high five goals, and had a hat trick in his only previous meeting against the Sounders in a 4-1 win Sept. 20.
"He's a good player, obviously his pace is something you have to worry about, he plays up there as a solo striker," Seattle coach Sigi Schmid said. "He's also a better player in the air than you realize."
Wright-Phillips won't be the only player out to snap a two-game drought. Seattle superstar Clint Dempsey amassed team highs of seven goals and five assists in his first eight games before coming up empty in both categories in his last two.
His attacking partner, forward Obafemi Martins, returned Wednesday after missing two games with a bruised tibia. Martins has six goals.
"We're going to go into Seattle and try to put them under pressure, make sure that Clint Dempsey and Obafemi Martins don't have an easy game because when they play well together, they find the ball a lot, then they're obviously very dangerous," Red Bulls midfielder Sacha Kljestan said.
New York will have to gauge whether its high-pressure tactics will work against a Seattle team that usually maintains possession. The Sounders enjoyed 76 percent of the first-half possession Wednesday with 426 passes - the most for an MLS team in a half in five years.
They will have to cope with a new-look Red Bulls team under first-year coach Marsch, who likes to create turnovers in opponents' own halves.
"They are much more of an aggressive team defensively, they're much more of a pressuring team as well now," Schmid said.
Seattle is 4-1-1 at home, where it has posted four straight clean sheets.