SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC v. ST. LOUIS CITY SC

Greetings to my brothers and sisters in Green. St. Louis make the trip from misery– I mean Missouri to The Evergreen for a Saturday night showdown under the lights at Royal Brougham Park.

What: MLS league match, Seattle Sounders FC v. St. Louis City SC.

Where: Royal Brougham Park, Occidental Avenue, Seattle, Washington.

When: 7:30 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time, Saturday 3 May 2025 CE.

At Stake: Points in the league. Sounders FC are currently in 19th place in the MLS league table on 13 points, 10 points adrift of league leader and Cascadia rival Vancouver Whitecaps FC. A win would see us on 16 points. Nashville, currently in 8th place, is the highest-placed team in the league that currently has 16 points. Austin, Orlando, Minnesota, and Colorado are all currently on 16 points.

Where to Watch: MLS Season Pass via Apple TV.

Where to Listen: KJR 93.3 FM and El Rey 1360 AM.

When we made the trip to Citypark on 15 March for our away match against St. Louis, we had a perfect 4-0-0 record in the league against them. We’d outscored them in those four matches by an aggregate of 9:1. Needless to say, things did not go to plan last month when we played St. Louis, and we fell 1:0 on Eduard Lowen’s 25-yard curling free-kick strike in the 15th minute. We were denied a penalty-kick, late in the second half,  due to an inadvertent handball by Obed Vargas. Nouhou twice saved certain goals by St. Louis, once with a block, and once by clearing off the line. We had the bulk of possession (64%), nearly twice the total passes (340:648), a better passing percentage (88.4% better than St. Louis by 10.2%), and earned more corner kicks (4:7). However, we only had one shot on goal. Ragen, Ferreira, Vargas, and Alex Roldan were booked.

It’s demoralising when you’re doing the right things, following the plan, and still can’t manage a result. I think it would behoove us to be a bit grumpy, nay, a bit surly about it. The Brougham End will have ample opportunity to express our frustration I’d say. Time to give St. Louis an ample portion of Green Hell. Welcome.

Fast-forward to now. Sounders are on-form going unbeaten in their last three matches (2-1-0), and having been defeated only once in their last six matches in the league (2-3-1). Meanwhile, St. Louis have been shut-out in four of their last six matches and have only managed three goals since 22 March.

Add it all up and it looks like the visitors are ripe for the taking. That said, support is vital. Round up your mates and get ye to the ground if possible. Failing that, it’s pubs, dwellings, you know how it works. Time to remind St. Louis what football is all about here in The Evergreen.

It’s MLS league football, under the Saturday night lights of Royal Brougham Park. GO ON YOU SOUNDERS!!! GET IN!!!

Before kick-off, please join me in the auld toast: “TO THE SEATTLE SOUNDERS FOOTBALL CLUB…AND VICTORY!!!”

Just one home match before we’re back on the road for three.

Might as well turn this lot from St. Louis over, yeh?

The Good News

Sounders are unbeaten in their last three matches, and have lost only once in their last six.

We’re averaging the better part of two goals per match in all competitions (1.43 goals/match), whereas St. Louis are averaging less than a goal per match (0.70).

Sounders are unbeaten at home in all competitions (3-3-0), whereas St. Louis has only one win on the road this season (1-2-2).

Danny Musovski is an inspiration, having scored goals in three consecutive matches. Makes it pretty hard for the Gaffer to leave him out of the team. WELL DONE, MOOSE!!!

Psst. I’m going to the US Open Cup 4th Round match on 6 May at Starfire to see Sounders FC Reserves against Portland Timbers senior squad. Yeh, that’s what’s up, Green Fam. Hope to see you all there, because pints + mates + football = awesome. What would be truly awesome is if we sold it out and made so much noise that it shook the ground. Just sayin’. I mean the lyric isn’t “Emerald City / we’re not here / whoa whoa” is it? Personally I can’t wait to see how this all goes down personnel-wise. Are the Sounders FC really going to let our youngers face Portland’s senior squad with limited senior squad reinforcements? I mean, that’s worth the price of admission alone I’d say.

The Bad News

In addition to Ragen being out, Morris and Ferreira are also out this match due to injury. We have the depth to cope with it, but it’s less than ideal.

Although St. Louis struggles to score goals, their defence is tied for second-best in the league, conceding only 0.80 goals/match. If you’re going by the numbers, that looks like either a 1:0 victory for us, or a 1:1 draw, hopefully the former.

The MLS Primary Transfer Window closed on 23 April. Other than signing Ryan Kent on a free…no one else was added. Ummmmmm, we’re 19th in the league, 10 points adrift of leaders Vancouver, with nearly a third of the season gone and no one at Longacres thought to themselves: “You know. It might be a good time to add a top player?” No worries though. We’ll get another chance to sign no one in the Secondary Transfer Window that runs from 24 July to 21 August.

The Side I Would Select

Musovski has scored in three straight matches, so I’d have him up top again. I prefer Bell over Kim. These in the 4-2-3-1 shape.

GK     Frei

LB     Nouhou

LCH    Bell

RCH    Gomez Andrade

RB     Kossa-Rienzi

LDM    Vargas

RDM   Cristian

LF     Rothrock

CAM   Rusnak

RF     de la Vega

CF     Musovski

The Side I Think The Gaffer Will Select

He’ll go with the same group as was in the team in Colorado, barring injury. The shape will be 5-2-3.

GK     Frei

LB     Rothrock

LCH    Nouhou

CH     Kim

RCH    Gomez Andrade

RB     Kossa-Rienzi

LDM    Vargas

RDM   Cristian

LF     Rusnak

CF     Musovski

RF     de la Vega

Intangibles

Officiating.

Looks like PRO Referees website is down for maintenance. Soooooo, there’ll be a referee, we just don’t know who.

Brougham bump.

Seattle away is one of the most miserable away matches for any other team in the league. Welcome to Green Hell, St. Louis.

The streak.

Unbeaten in three matches, Sounders seem to have gotten their legs back under them.

Weather.

It looks, as of the forecast on Friday, that Saturday night in Seattle is likely to be a bit chill with rain possible. Advantage: Sounders.

General notes on personnel

St. Louis transfers IN:

Baumgartl (Schalke 04) free

Wallem (SK Slavia Prague) loan

Morales (San Jose) free

Zalinsky - draft

Silva (Atlanta United FC) €88,000

St. Louis transfers OUT:

Klein (Charleston Battery) free

Nerwinski - released

Kijima (San Diego FC) expansion draft 

Thorisson (Sparta Rotterdam) loan

Pidro (FK Velez Mostar) loan

Vassilev (Philadelphia Union) €955,000

Comparison against common opponents

SEA 5:2 LAFC

LAFC 2:2 STL

(against LAFC: SEA 1-0-0 +3, STL 0-1-0 0) decisive edge SEA

SD 3:0 SEA

SD 0:0 STL

(against SD: SEA 0-0-1 -3, STL 0-1-0 0) edge STL

COL 1:1 SEA

STL 0:0 COL

(against COL: SEA 0-1-0 0, STL 0-1-0 0) even

Know Thine Enemy

St. Louis as they lined up in their 2:2 draw against LAFC at Figueroa Street on 27 April.

GOALKEEPER

Ben Lundt, 29

Germany

Notable Clubs: Louisville City (27/0), Phoenix Rising (42/0), St. Louis City SC (11/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €200,000

Notes: Developed by Hertha BSC. Played his university football for Lenoir-Rhyne (NCAA II) (5/0) and Akron (64/0). Named to USL Championship All-League First Team 2020. Named USL Championship Goalkeeper of the Year 2020.

DEFENCE

Jannes Horn, 28

Germany

Notable Clubs: VfL Wolfsburg (13/0), 1. FC Koln (69/0), Hannover 96 (21/0), VfL Bochum (2/0), 1. FC Nurnberg (34/0), St. Louis City SC (16/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.5M

Notes: Developed by Rot-Weiss Braunschweig and VfL Wolfsburg. Won a 2. Bundesliga title with Koln.

Joshua Yaro, 30

Ghana

Notable Clubs: Philadelphia Union (23/0), San Antonio FC (45/1), San Diego Loyal (28/2), St. Louis City SC (39/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €400,000

Notes: Developed by Right to Dream Academy. Played his university football for Georgetown (57/1).

Timo Baumgartl, 29

Germany

Notable Clubs: VfB Stuttgart (115/2), PSV Eindhoven (21/1), Union Berlin (33/1), Schalke 04 (12/0), St. Louis City SC (5/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €450,000

Notes: Developed by GSV Maichingen, SSV Reutlingen, and VfB Stuttgart. Won a 2. Bundesliga championship with VfB Stuttgart.

Kyle Hiebert, 27

Canada (2/0)

Notable Clubs: St. Louis City SC (57/2)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.5M

Notes: Developed by Linden Woods SC and WSA Winnipeg. Played his university football for Missouri State (88/6).

MIDFIELD

Tomas Ostrak, 25

Czech Republic

Notable Clubs: FC Koln (5/0), TSV Hartberg (6/0), MFK Karvina (26/1), St. Louis City SC (47/4)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.2M

Notes: Developed by MFK Frydek-Mistek and FC Koln.

Conrad Wallem, 24

Norway

Notable Clubs: Tonsberg (40/11), Odd (71/8), Slavia Prague (31/6), St. Louis City SC (10/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €2.2M

Notes: Developed by Husoy & Foynland, Notteroy, and Tonsberg.

Alfredo Morales, 34

United States (16/0)

Notable Clubs: Hertha BSC (20/1), FC Ingolstadt (142/9), Fortuna Dusseldorf (61/2), New York City FC (73/0), San Jose Earthquakes (23/0), St. Louis City SC (10/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €200,000

Notes: Developed by BSC Reinickendorf 21, Borussia Pankow, FC Concordia Wilhemsruh, and Hertha BSC. Won an MLS Cup with New York City FC.

FORWARD

Marcel Hartel, 29

Germany

Notable Clubs: 1. FC Koln (8/0), Union Berlin (54/4), Arminia Bielefeld (55/1), FC St. Pauli (98/24), St. Louis City SC (19/4)

Estimated Transfer Value: €4.5M

Notes: Developed by SC West Koln and 1. FC Koln. Won a 2. Bundesliga title with Arminia Bielefeld. Won a 2. Bundesliga title with St. Pauli.

Joao Klauss, 28

Brazil

Notable Clubs: HJK Helsinki (33/21), Linzer ASK (42/15), Hoffenheim (4/0), Standard Liege (33/7), Sint-Truiden (8/2), St. Louis City SC (55/16)

Estimated Transfer Value: €2.8M

Notes: Developed by Internacional (Porto Alegre), Juventude, and Gremio. Won a Finnish league title with HJK Helsinki. Named Finnish League Player of the Year, won the Golden Boot (21 goals), named Striker of the Year, named Breakthrough of the Year, and named to the Finnish League Team of the Year, all in 2018 for HJK Helsinki.

Cedric Teuchert, 28

Germany

Notable Clubs: 1. FC Nurnberg (41/11), Schalke 04 (9/0), Hannover 96 (93/33), Union Berlin (30/3), St. Louis City SC (19/7)

Estimated Transfer Value: €3.5M

Notes: Developed by DVV Coburg and 1. FC Nurnberg.

Familiar Faces

None.

Squads

Sounders FC from:

Frei, Thomas, Baker, Baker-Whiting, Bell, Burney, Gomez Andrade, Hawkins, Kim, Kossa-Rienzi, Nouhou, Alex, Sousa, Joao Paulo, Leyva, Cristian, Rusnak, Vargas, de la Vega, Kent, Minoungou, Musovski, Rothrock.

Note: Sounders Reserves have an away match tonight (Friday 2 May) in Thousand Oaks, California. Players from the senior squad who aren’t regularly in the team sometimes play for the reserves to retain match-sharpness. This may affect the above squad list for Saturday.

St. Louis from:

Lundt, Olivares, Nilsson, Wentzel, Yaro, Hiebert, Baumgartl, Horn, Zalinsky, Reid, Girdwood-Reich, Wallem, Ostrak, Lowen, Pompeu, Hartel, Watts, Alm, Perez, Pearce, Joao Klauss, Becher, Teuchert, Xande Silva, Glover, Joyner.

Injury List

(as listed on mlssoccer.com at press time)

Sounders FC -

OUT: Ferreira (adductor), Morris (hamstring), Ragen (hamstring), Arriola (knee).

MATCHDAY DECISION: none.

St. Louis -

OUT: Burki (hand), Durkin (knee), Kessler (hamstring), Totland (hamstring).

MATCHDAY DECISION: none.

Discipline

(as listed on mlssoccer.com at press time)

Sounders FC: No players suspended.

St. Louis: Morales is suspended for being booked twice on 27 April and will serve a one-match ban.

Fun Fact

Sounders FC Reserves are playing tonight (Friday 2 May) at 7:00 p.m. PDT, and will be on the road to face Los Angeles Galaxy Reserves. Our Reserves are riding quite high at the moment, currently 8th in the MLS Next Pro table on 12 points, only 5 points adrift of Chattanooga who currently lead the league. Add to that their three victories in the US Open Cup for a total record of 7-0-2. Sounders FC Reserves currently lead the league with 20 goals scored, with Osaze De Rosario leading the side with eight goals (9 in all competitions), and Yu Tsukanome with five goals (7 in all competitions). MLS Next Pro matches are available on either Apple TV or YouTube. More than worth it to see how it all goes down in Thousand Oaks tonight. Check it out. You won’t be sorry you did.