MLS side Seattle Sounders get bigger attendances than Liverpool or Chelsea

“Seattle earned the right to host this knockout play-in match by finishing fourth in the Western Conference, just ahead of fifth-place L.A. Both teams had 51 points, but the Sounders had 15 wins to the Galaxy’s 14 – the first tie-breaker”.

Galaxy captain Robbie Keane, who participated in all but one of those victories over the Sounders while scoring three postseason goals against Seattle, agreed that LA will not be resting on their past laurels when Wednesday rolls around.

The LA Galaxy have never lost an MLS Cup series to Seattle Sounders FC, but what does that mean heading into Wednesday’s Knockout Round game at CenturyLink Field? “We’re very confident”, Seattle coach Sigi Schmid said. A few tough luck with referees, a sputtering and intermittent attack, and a lack of defensive stability over the last two months have seen the Galaxy go from being heavy favorites to retain their MLS Cup title to being underdogs going into the playoffs. “But we know we’ve got to be sharp, we’ve got to be attentive, we’ve got to be on our game”.

The upcoming worldwide break in November falls in between the conference semi-finals and finals, so by the time the MLS sides take a brief break for the qualifiers only four teams will remain.

The two teams met twice during the regular season, playing to a 1-1 draw in May at Gillette Stadium, with Charlie Davies netting the only goal for New England, while the United came out on top 2-1 in a June tilt at RFK. “Last year we won at home against them, and we got knocked out because of the away-goals rule”.

“There was a stretch in the second half, we were just all over them”, Sarachan said. “The turnaround is tight”.