ST. LOUIS CITY SC v. SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC

Greetings to my brothers and sisters in Green. Sounders FC make the voyage to Citypark to face St. Louis City. Hopefully this match will be the gateway to a good result, lest we end up in abject Missouri– I mean misery.

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

Where: Citypark, Olive Street, St. Louis, Missouri.

When: 5:30 p.m. Pacific Standard Time, Saturday 7 March 2026 CE.

At Stake: Saturday’s result has the potential to set the short-term trajectory of our season so far. A victory would take us to 2-0-1 and see us on the upswing. A defeat would see us at 1-0-2, setting a bit of a downward trend that could make management consider a change in strategy. A draw would have us at 1-1-1 which you would imagine having little to no impact on team selection, tactics, etc. A victory could lift us into the top ten of the league table. A loss or draw, not so much. Sounders are currently in 13th place in the league table, three points adrift of current leaders San Diego.

Where to Watch: Apple TV.

Where to Listen: iHeartMedia Seattle which I presume will be the KJR feed, and El Rey 1360 AM.

Well, what do we have here? It seems the St. Louis are struggling. They’ve scored only one goal in their first two league matches. They’ve won zero matches this season, including their two pre-season fixtures. If it weren’t MLS with its ridiculous commitment to parity, you’d see three points ripe for the plucking on Sat.

Of course, if we were to suffer defeat at the hands of struggling St. Louis, that might see us take a rather hard look in the mirror, asking ourselves some searching questions. I’m just kidding — our results rarely influence our selection and tactics. It would just be chalked up as a bad day at the firm.

I can’t see us as anything but favourites to win this match. And that’s what makes me so nervous.

If you’re headed to the match, look after one another, tie your scarves proper, and avoid the Pisswasser. For those of us here in The Evergreen, it’s pubs and dwellings for stories and tellings, houses and flats for pints and cats, and sometimes even boats and ships for pie and chips.

It’s Sounders football, under the Saturday night lights at Citypark. GO ON YOU SOUNDERS!!! GET IN!!!

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

“…Okay, that’s a political thing. That’s not, you know, that’s, I can’t speak to that.

Whatever the President does, I don’t really, I don’t follow that.” – Brian Schmetzer

Does someone want to tell the Gaffer and a giant chunk of our

fanbase that it is literally impossible for sport to be apolitical?

The Good News

Sounders have had this fixture on lockdown. Though the teams have only met six times in league play, Sounders have a record of 5-0-1 against the St. Louis all-time, 2-0-1 playing at Citypark.

Including pre-season matches, Sounders are averaging 2.13 goals/match. St. Louis are averaging less than a goal per match (0.50 goals/match).

Sounders are the team statistically more likely to score two goals, and St. Louis are more likely to concede two goals.

With the exception of the injured Jordan Morris, all other players that lined up for our 2:0 victory over Colorado are available for selection.

The Sounders’ defence are playing quite well, conceding an average of 1.13 goals/match (includes pre-season).

Despite the dropped result in Salt Lake last week, there were some encouraging signs from that match. Sounders were better than the Salt Lake in several statistical categories, including possession, shots, shots on goal, total passes, passing accuracy, corner kicks, and crosses. It’s fair to say that in terms of possession, shots on goal, and total passes, Sounders were statistically dominant. We carried the attacking play for the bulk of that match.

I’d say that the Gaffer did a quality job managing the match at Salt Lake. Musovski, Brunell, and Kossa-Rienzi came on as substitutes with a bit over 30 minutes to play, with plenty of time to actually impact the match, rather than the two to five minute cameos we are accustomed to seeing. This is good news, and managing like this makes us a better team.

The Bad News

Injuries are somewhat impacting the side, with the most worrying aspect being that Sounders FC Reserves centre-half Antino Lopez is the only cover available for Gomez Andrade and Ragen, should they succumb to injury.  Centre-halves Sailor, Kim, and Hawkins are all unavailable and are currently on the injured list. Also worrying is the quadriceps injury to Jordan Morris, who was only able to play for a few minutes before being substituted in the 8th minute of the season opener.

Sounders didna have particularly good results on the road last season, with an away record in the league of 5-4-8. Although the match was close at Salt Lake, we were unable to finish our chances and we dropped our first road match of the season. Can Sounders manage victory on the road at St. Louis?

Sounders drew Toluca, Queretaro, and Guadalajara (Chivas) as their Leagues Cup phase one opponents. Toluca away promises to be extremely difficult, and the Chivas are always a difficult draw, no matter where you play them.

The Side I Would Select

Plenty of time between matches. I like the team that defeated Colorado and suffered a hard-luck loss to Salt Lake. With Rothrock’s availability uncertain, I would choose to not select him.

Rationale: If Rothrock’s foot is bothering him, then we’re better safe than sorry and should leave him out of the team this match. Arriola plays the left side, and is fit, available, and brings some quality into the equation as well.

GK     Thomas

LB     Nouhou

LCH    Ragen
RCH    Gomez Andrade

RB     Alex

LDM   Dotson

RDM   Cristian

LF     Arriola

CAM   Rusnak

RF     Ferreira

CF     De Rosario

The Side I Think The Gaffer Will Select

Rothrock theoretically takes drugs for his ailing foot and is selected by the Gaffer.

GK     Thomas

LB     Nouhou

LCH    Ragen

RCH    Gomez Andrade

RB     Alex

LDM   Dotson

RDM   Cristian

LF     Rothrock

CAM   Rusnak

RF     Ferreira

CF     De Rosario

Intangibles

The Referee for Saturday night’s match will be Timothy Ford.

STL results with Ford as Ref: 1-1-1

SEA results with Ford as Ref: 3-2-2

It is noteworthy that Ford has booked 333 players in 92 MLS league matches for an average of 3.62/match.

STL 2026 transfer fees paid: €7.69M

SEA 2026 transfer fees paid: €0

General notes on personnel

St. Louis transfers IN:

Edelman (NYRB) €600,000

Wallem (Slavia Prague) €2M

Rafael Santos (Colorado Rapids) free

Mbacke Fall (FC Barcelona) free

Polvara (Aberdeen) €200,000

MacNaughton (DC United) free

Cordova (BSC Young Boys) loan fee €300,000

St. Louis transfers OUT:

Alm (Orgryte) free

Kessler (Charlotte FC) free

Morales - released

Padelford (Minnesota United FC) end of loan

Pidro (Velez Mostar) free

Watts - released
Wentzel (Real Salt Lake) free

Antwi (Birmingham Legion) free

Reid (Sporting Kansas City) free

Zalinsky - released

Olivares (SC Jacksonville) loan

Joao Klauss (LA Galaxy) €2M

Comparison against common opponents

n/a

Know Thine Enemy

The St. Louis, as they lined up in their 2:0 defeat to San Diego at Cottonwood Lane on 1 March.

GOALKEEPER

Roman Burki, 35

Switzerland (9/0)

Notable Clubs: BSC Young Boys (2/0), FC Thun (4/0), FC Schaffhausen (9/0), Grasshoppers (110/0), SC Freiberg (34/0), Borussia Dortmund (176/0), St. Louis City SC (92/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.2M

Notes: Developed by FC Munsingen and BSC Young Boys. Won a Swiss Cup with Grasshoppers. Won two DFB Pokal and a DFB Supercup with Borussia Dortmund. Named to MLS Best XI 2023. Named MLS Goalkeeper of the Year 2023.

DEFENCE

Daniel Edelman, 22

United States

Notable Clubs: New York RB (96/3), St. Louis City SC (2/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €2M

Notes: Developed by PDA and New York RB. Played for United States (20/0) at youth levels. Won a CONCACAF U-20 Championship with United States U-20s.

Dante Polvara, 25

United States

Notable Clubs: Aberdeen (65/3), Charleston Battery (18/1), St. Louis City SC (2/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €400,000

Notes: Developed by New York City FC. Played his university football for Georgetown (56/16). Won a Scottish Cup with Aberdeen.

Timo Baumgartl, 30

Germany

Notable Clubs: VfB Stuttgart (115/2), PSV Eindhoven (21/1), Union Berlin (33/1), Schalke 04 (12/0), St. Louis City SC (24/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €600,000

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

Jaziel Orozco, 21

Mexico

Notable Clubs: Real Salt Lake (5/0), Larne (26/0), St. Louis City SC (13/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €250,000

Notes: Developed by Real Salt Lake. Won a North of Ireland Premiership title with Larne. 

MIDFIELD

Rafael Santos, 28

Brazil

Notable Clubs: Mirassol (13/1), Cruzeiro (31/1), Chapecoense (5/0), Coritiba (15/0), Orlando City SC (75/2), Colorado Rapids (7/1), St. Louis City SC (2/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €800,000

Notes: Full name: Rafael Lucas Cardoso dos Santos. Developed by Figueirense, Inter de Limeira, Mirassol, and Atletico Madrid. Won Brazilian Serie B championships with both Chapecoense and Cruzeiro.

Miguel Perez, 20

United States

Notable Clubs: St. Louis City SC (17/1), Birmingham Legion (27/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €300,000

Notes: Developed by St. Louis City SC. Played for United States (2/1) at youth levels.

Chris Durkin, 26

United States

Notable Clubs: DC United (96/5), Sint-Truiden (68/2), St. Louis City SC (48/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.8M

Notes: Developed by Richmond Kickers and DC United.

FORWARD

Conrad Wallem, 25

Norway

Notable Clubs: Tonsberg (40/11), Odd (71/8), Slavia Prague (31/6), St. Louis City SC (34/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €2M

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

Simon Becher, 26

United States

Notable Clubs: Vancouver Whitecaps FC (20/5), Horsens (14/3), St. Louis City SC (43/7)

Estimated Transfer Value: €800,000

Notes: Played his university football for Holy Cross (17/7) and St. Louis (47/21). Won a Canadian Championship with Vancouver Whitecaps FC.

Jeong Sang-bin, 23

South Korea (3/1)

Notable Clubs: Suwon Bluewings (28/6), Grasshopper (13/0), Minnesota United FC (70/7), St. Louis City SC (11/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.8M

Notes: Developed by Suwon Bluewings.

Familiar Faces

None.

Squads

St. Louis from:

Burki, Lundt, Baumgartl, Mbacke Fall, Hiebert, MacNaughton, Orozco, Polvara, Rafael Santos, Yaro, Durkin, Edelman, Hartel, Joyner, Perez, Pompeu, Wallem, Becher, Cordova, Glover, Jeong, McSorley, Teuchert.

Note: Lowen is not available for selection, but is neither injured nor suspended.

Sounders FC from:

Frei, Thomas, Baker, Gomez Andrade, Kossa-Rienzi, Lopez*, Nouhou, Ragen, Alex, Brunell, Cristian, Dotson, Petkovic, Rusnak, Arriola, De Rosario, Ferreira, Minoungou, Musovski, Rothrock, Tsukanome.

*Antino Lopez may or may not still be on short-term loan — the league does not openly disclose this information. I have included him in the squad because he’s been on the substitutes bench for the first two matches this season, and also three of the club’s five senior centre-halves are injured and unavailable for selection.

Injury List

(as listed on mlssoccer.com at press time)

St. Louis -

OUT: Fallou Fall (ankle), Ostrak (leg), Pearce (hip), Totland (abdomen).

MATCHDAY DECISION: none.

Sounders FC -

OUT: de la Vega (knee), Hawkins (quadriceps), Sailor (knee), Morris (quadriceps), Kim (calf).

MATCHDAY DECISION: Minoungou (foot), Rothrock (foot).

Discipline

(as listed on mlssoccer.com at press time)

No players suspended from either team.

Fun Fact

Sounders FC Reserves started their MLS Next Pro campaign with a 2:2 draw against LAFC2 at Starfire. Our lads came back from two goals down to equalise through goals by Yu Tsukanome and Mark Bronnik. The side also benefitted from some outstanding goalkeeping from Mohammed Shour. Well done salvaging a point from this one, lads. Better luck next time.