Coach Brian Schmetzer urged the Seattle Sounders to bounce back to their home form ahead of Saturday’s MLS match against the Chicago Fire.
The home team sits in ninth place in the Western Conference standings but is 12 points behind the top three teams in the standings.
Schmetzer’s side are yet to win consecutive MLS games this season, but a struggling side could be on track when they visit Lumen Park.
Seattle is riding high on the back of some last-minute drama in a 3-2 win over FC Dallas last time out, and the head coach will be hoping his team can continue to build on that momentum.
“We need to get a win after that crazy, exciting win, perfect for the fans but awful for the manager,” the manager said. “We’ve got two home games left and we need to get our home form back on track.”
“I haven’t said this to the players but there have been discussions amongst the coaching staff about how we can get more consistent and produce results on a regular basis.”
“[Let’s] Let’s see if we can get some more results. We’re not out of the playoff line yet, but seven points in one week is good.
“Right now we’re talking about keeping our momentum going at home. Not necessarily about winning two games in a row, but re-establishing what we do here and how we go about things.”
The Fire appeared to be on track with a four-game unbeaten streak, but that streak was snapped last weekend with a 4-2 loss in Orlando.
Chicago is languishing at the bottom of the Eastern Conference and has struggled on the road, winning just one of their nine games.
Featured Players
Seattle Sounders – Jordan Morris
Jordan Morris scored the tying goal in the 88th minute and the winner in added time in Seattle’s comeback win over Dallas on Saturday.
Morris is the first player in Sounders history to score both the tying and winning goals after the 80th minute in an MLS game.
Chicago Fire – Hugo Kuipers
Hugo Kuipers has scored in four straight games for the Fire, which is currently the longest scoring streak in MLS.
If Kuipers scores against Seattle, he will tie the Fire’s longest regular-season points streak in MLS history, set by David Accum in 2017 and Robert Belic in 2020 with five straight games.
Match Prediction – Seattle Sounders to win
With the Fire boasting a favorable head-to-head record and the Sounders in good form, it was hard to pick a winner in this matchup, but Seattle seems more likely to win by a narrow margin.
Seattle has lost just two of their last 13 games in all competitions (six wins, five draws), with both losses coming on the road.
In fact, the Sounders are unbeaten in seven straight home games, including wins in three of their last four at Lumen Field (and a draw on one), but there’s still a chance Chicago could lose.
The Fire had won their previous two meetings against Seattle, once at home and once in the MLS is Back tournament in 2020. Prior to that, Chicago had won just twice (four draws, 11 losses) in 17 meetings with the Sounders.
They are also winless in nine visits to Seattle (two draws, seven losses), but have won their two previous trips to the Pacific Northwest, beating the Vancouver Whitecaps 3-1 in 2022 and the Portland Timbers 2-1 in 2023.
Entering their final two games, Chicago had never won against the three Cascadia MLS teams in all competitions (four draws and 19 losses against Portland, Seattle and Vancouver), and they’re hoping that record doesn’t come back to haunt them here.
OPTA Winning Probability
Seattle Sounders to win – 54.6%
Tie – 23.3%
Chicago Fire to win – 22%