Leagues Cup preview: Seattle Sounders at Real Salt Lake

The Leagues Cup is here! For the first time in the history of Liga MX and MLS, the two leagues are taking breaks in their regular seasons to do a group stage & knockout tournament between every team in each league. The Seattle Sounders play their first game tonight against a familiar opponent in Real Salt Lake, with C.F. Monterrey being the other team in the group.

It’s hard to figure out what matters in terms of form and league play coming into a tournament that’s never been played before. With that said, RSL is coming off a stretch of nine league games unbeaten and are looking like they’re in fine form. They’ve added some good additions in the summer transfer window, including former LAFC striker Cristian Arango. This isn’t the same RSL team that the Sounders played earlier in the MLS regular season.

Seattle, on the other hand, has kind of been puttering along. They’ve put in some decent performances of late but also some total duds. Perhaps a break in the league can do the Sounders some good. We all know how good this team can be in tournament settings.

Just a reminder about Leagues Cup rules. There are no draws in the group stage or extra time. If a team wins the match in regulation they will be awarded 3 points. If a match ends in a draw over 90 minutes, then both teams are awarded 1 point. Then, a penalty shootout takes place and the winner of that is awarded another point. So. 3 points for an outright win, 2 points for a shootout win, and 1 point if you lose on penalties. Got it? Cool.

June 28th, 2016 — Technically the last time the Sounders left Utah with a victory was in the US Open Cup in 2016. They defeated RSL on penalties.

It’s hard to really figure out what the Leagues Cup actually means for momentum or if momentum actually means anything. However, Sounders fans have been in need of a really convincing victory for some time. Should Seattle actually put on a show and beat RSL then the vibes will be great.

• This might actually be the healthiest the Sounders are going to be all season. Kelyn Rowe and Xavier Arreaga are still out, but theoretically Seattle could pick a full strength XI. All of this hinges on how fit Jordan Morris is. He’s carrying a groin injury from the Gold Cup, so it might make sense for him to come on as a sub.
• RSL could be missing some rotational players but it doesn’t seem like they’re missing anyone from their first choice XI.

Sounders (4-2-3-1): Frei; Nouhou, Ragen, Yeimar, A. Roldan; Joao Paulo, Rusnak; Chu, Lodeiro, C. Roldan; Ruidiaz

Real Salt Lake (4-4-2): Macmath; Brody, Vera, Glad, Davis; Luna, Ruiz, Ojeda, Savarino; Arango, Musovski

Sounders record (Leagues Cup): 0-0-0

Opponent record (Leagues Cup): 0-0-0

Where: America First Field, Sandy, UT

Kickoff time: 6:39pm Pacific Time

Commentators (AppleTV): Unknown