SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC v. REAL SALT LAKE

Greetings to my brothers and sisters in Green. Freshly arrived from the city of salty lakes and weak beer, Real Salt Lake, failing to realise that only Donny and Marie Osmond (she’s a little bit Country, he’s a little bit Rock & Roll - what can I say, 80s telly programmers were terrified to offend anyone) are truly Utah royalty, visit The Evergreen for an exercise in duelling desperation.

What: MLS league match, Seattle Sounders FC v. Real Salt Lake.

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

When: 6:30 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time, Wednesday 23 September 2026 CE.

At Stake: Points in the league for the purposes of MLS Cup qualification. Sounders are currently 26th in the MLS league table on 29 points, 28 points adrift of leaders Nashville. Sounders are three points adrift of nemesis and arch-rival Portland Timbers for the 9th and last MLS Cup qualifying berth in the west region. Should we defeat the Salt Lake, we would be level on points with Portland at 32, but the Treecutters would remain in that 9th and last berth on the tie-breaker of total victories. For some unknown reason, the first tiebreaker after points is victories - not goal difference as it is in probably the rest of the bloody world. It should be noted that Sounders v. Salt Lake is the only midweek fixture being played in the entire league. The western regional MLS Cup qualifying table looks like this from position eight down:

8 LA Galaxy 27 matches played 33 points

9 Portland         26 matches played 32 points

——————————————————————————————————————————-

10 San Diego 26 matches played 31 points

11 Austin 26 matches played 30 points

12 Salt Lake 25 matches played 29 points

13 Sounders 24 matches played 29 points

14 Minnesota 26 matches played 29 points

15 Kansas City 25 matches played 18 points

We’re likely not catching anyone above LA Galaxy as those teams are seven points clear of us or better. It would be difficult to close that much of a gap in just 10 matches barring calamity for those nearest the top of the regional table.

Where to Watch: Apple TV. You can listen to the primary audio which features former actor Max Bretos and former Dallas Burn and Salt Lake defender Brian Dunseth, or select the alternative audio which should be a KJR simulcast…provided Apple get the AM/FM thing right.

Where to Listen: KJR 950 AM (Broadcast team from: Danny Jackson, Jackson Felts, Steve Zakuani, Brad Evans, Pete Fewing, and Keely Dunning) and El Rey 1360 AM (Broadcast team from: Mario Rodriguez, Felipe Maqueda, and Carlos Tapia).

Sounders versus the Salt Lake. There are so many aspects to the midweek fixture we’re about to play. So many dimensions. Fact: Sounders have a miserable time every damn time we travel to the Wasatch Basin to face this lot. Our all-time record in the league at Salt Lake is 1-4-13. That’s right, one victory, four drawn, and 13 defeats. It’s unacceptable, and with the correct preparation quite fixable. In the Brian Schmetzer managerial era we are 0-2-8 at Salt Lake. This is the kind of thing that makes you really start to hate a specific club. Maybe not in a Millwall ultras/West Ham ultras meeting up in an empty lot to throw hands kind of way, but more in a “Fuck’s sake not these again” kind of way.

However, a funny thing happens when the tables are turned and the Salt Lake have to play us here, in The Evergreen, at sea level. Our all-time league record in the league in this scenario is dramatically different. I wonder why. It could have something to do with science, but I digress and once again focus is called for. Our record when playing in the league at Royal Brougham Park against the Salt Lake becomes 13-3-4. Night and day, chalk and cheese, empty glass and full glass, evil and goo– right. Focus. So it’s different when we play here. Shockingly different. But there’s an unstable element in this equation.

That unstable element is as follows: Neither of these teams has won a match in the league since May. Both teams find themselves on the outside looking in for MLS Cup qualification. The gap to the last berth is marginal, three points to catch the Timbers to date with both Sounders and the Salt lake with game(s) in hand over Portland. This is going to create a certain level of desperation in both camps. This type of scenario generally leads to some testy, aggrieved, and wooly football that has shithousery as its calling card. Hard and late in the tackle, thrown elbows, handsy grabbing of arms and/or the shirt, levelling each other on set pieces. You know what I’m getting at. You’ve seen it all before, time after time. Everyone hates to lose and professional athletes are a sight more competitive than most. Blokes are fucking cranky and put out. That is the cauldron that’ll be roiling come Wednesday night.

If you have the time and means, get ye to the ground and link up with ours. ECS could use some extra hands on deck to make the fearsome noise that has become our device. Those of us that can’t make our way there must watch on the telly, I mean, more likely a computer or game console…it’s not really 1983 anymore, which is both good…and bad. Getting back to the meat and drink of it, for those outside the ground it’s pubs and dwellings for stories and tellings. Houses and flats for pints and cats. Boats and ships for pie and chips. It’s time to ride that carousel horse and stretch to reach for the brass ring of MLS Cup qualification.

Its MLS league football, under the Wednesday night lights of Royal Brougham Park. Two teams will enter. One will leave…or, you know, as we’re meant to stay and they have to travel anyway, possibly a draw. GO ON YOU SOUNDERS!!! GET IN!!!

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

If you’re able to grab the brass ring, you get a free go on the carousel. But can you stretch far enough to grab it without falling off your transfixed fibreglass steed? (photo credit: playingintheworldgame.com)

The Good News

Recent form for the Sounders is that we’re unbeaten in the last five with a 0-5-0 record. The fact that all the results were drawn makes it more, good-ish news. Still better than dropping all the points, that’s for certain.

Sounders at home are always in with a shout, if not at our usual dominant levels of success from past seasons (6-3-5, add a win if you count Spokane as a home match). When you compare with the Salt Lake’s away form, a truly sad 1-3-9 mark, the midweek fixture could be just the tonic to get us back to winning ways.

We recently got Ragen back to fitness, and Gomez Andrade looks like he might be ready for a 30 minute run out from the substitutes bench on Wednesday night. So I’d say fairer weather ahead for us, although the losses of Rothrock, Ferreira, and de la Vega continue to hurt our overall quality. Not to forget Petkovic, as we didn’t even really get a chance to see if he was worth retaining.

Sounders played much better fundamental football in Colorado. Player movement was improved, with ball movement still needing a bit more polish. Plenty of scoring chances as well. Had Morris’ hard-luck header not gently glanced off the woodwork, we might’ve walked away with the three points at Victory Way. If last Sat is any indication, things are trending upward.

With a three-goal output last Sat, we look like we’re back in business scoring goals. A strike from Cristian Roldan, combined with newboys Joveljic (I mean three goals in four matches and a brace on his debut is the brightest crack of daylight we’ve seen in months) and Clark hitting a goal each, look to have given the side new life. Over this five-match unbeaten stretch there have also been contributions from Kossa-Rienzi, and veteran winger Paul Arriola. If we can just put it all together, attack and defence, we’ll win more times than not.

The Salt Lake are hurting. They’re in the same boat we were in a month ago with seven players on injury list, including Salt Lake and United States young midfield star Diego Luna, whose injured knee required season-ending surgery. Losing a veteran defender the quality of Justin Glad for any amount of time leaves some very difficult gaps to fill in the Salt Lake defence.

In addition to Salt Lake’s attrition due to injury, they’ll also be missing Sanabria and recent addition Salt Lake and Canada defender de Fougerolles. Not to forget Gozo, their next best striker (6 goals, 5 assists) who was too good for this league and was sold to Crystal Palace in August for €13.1M. That’s nine players (not counting the departed Gozo) that will be unavailable for selection for Wednesday night’s match. That’s a difficult row to hoe, and Sounders must take full advantage of this opportunity.

The Bad News

Sounders are making strides but the quality and consistency is not quite there yet. We are conceding goals (1.35 goals conceded/match) at a marginally higher rate than we are scoring them (1.29 goals/match) through 31 matches in all competitions. The improvement has begun, let’s see if the lads can ratchet things up to the next level.

Danger men for the Salt Lake, with notable absences due to attrition and national team duty, are as follows: Solans (9 goals, 3 assists), the young Spanish striker, leads the club in scoring. Guinean striker Guilavogui (2 goals, 7 assists) has a combination of danger and experience that will make our defence work hard to contain him. Lobjanidze (2 goals, 3 assists) acquired in July can also hurt you with the shot or the pass. Spierings (1 goal, 2 assists) and Caliskan (1 goal, 5 assists) round out the attack.

Backs to the wall is a shit situation to be in. The natural human thing to do is lash out and get all stroppy. Our squad cannae afford the luxury of that. We must be calm and follow football’s golden rule: Keep your head. This is exceptionally difficult to do whilst trying to perform at maximum work rate under immense pressure from fans, media, and management in a game that can be frustrating as fuck. We need to remain calm. The lads need to hold each other accountable, but do so whilst also encouraging flagging teammates.

The Sounders’ loss of Joveljic is Serbia’s gain as they look to put their best foot forward in the UEFA Nations League. Joveljic has hit for the incredible strike rate of three goals in four matches for Sounders and is the sort of striker that can turn a half-chance into a goal. Those qualities are difficult to replace or emulate.

Despite our three-goal outburst in the Rockies, Sounders remain last in the league in scoring with 28 goals. We’re gaining ground and our attack looks much more dangerous than it did five weeks ago. That said, we need more from the squad and we need to get it without falling apart at the back.

There are only marginal differences in attack and defence between Sounders (who concede 0.24 less goals/match) and the Salt Lake (who score 0.26 more goals/match). So the narrative is going to be: Who suffers the worst from national team call-ups and attrition due to injury, and who is going to best take advantage of the chances they create. With things seemingly on the mend for Sounders, my first thought is that I like our chances, especially at home. But there’s that nagging doubt again that somehow there’s a new Diego Luna or Gozo type player with Salt Lake that’s been begging for a chance to prove to management that they belong in the Senior team. This is the type of match that could turn on one bad break with neither team being able to afford a howler.

The Side I Would Select

Thomas has been grand all year, no need for a change between the sticks. Nouhou at left-back because he’s good, and also the only person in the squad that plays that position. Ragen played 30 minutes as a substitute last Sat in Colorado with seemingly no ill effects so it makes sense to select him as he is one of our best centre-halves. I like Hawkins in the right-centre-half position, with Gomez Andrade seemingly fit enough to replace him sometime in the second half.

I favour Kingston over the other choices at left-defensive-midfield, with Cristian playing on his right. New addition Caden Clark showed me some quality with his goal last Sat coming off the bench, let’s see how he does over the full 90 minutes. If Clark is ready and able to contribute at left-forward it would be incredibly fortuitous, as Rothrock, the club’s top goal scorer who normally plays that position, is currently hampered with a hamstring issue. With Ferreira injured and Clark untested at the #10, Rusnak is the logical choice to attack from midfield. It should be noted that Rusnak, 32, has played over 1700 minutes this season, and could probably use a rest during this week of fixture clutter. Perhaps someone else can play the 10 against Minnesota on Saturday, although the urgency of Sounders situation re: MLS Cup qualification will likely see no rest for the weary. The same applies to Morris (31) and Cristian (30). Our veteran players all have a lot of miles on those joints and bones. Just sayin’.

I like Morris on the right. Although he prefers the left side, he has done well on the right over the years. With Joveljic in the squad for Serbia in the UEFA Nations League and De Rosario on loan at Sonderjyske, Musovski is the sensible choice to lead the line at centre-forward.

GK     Thomas

LB     Nouhou

LCH     Ragen

RCH    Hawkins

RB     Kossa-Rienzi

LDM    Kingston

RDM   Cristian

LF     Clark

CAM   Rusnak

RF     Morris

CF     Musovski

The Side I Think The Gaffer Will Select

Schmetzer leans toward experience in the team when his back is to the wall, or really any time all of the veterans are healthy. I expect to see him continue to deploy Alex at right-centre-half.

I’d expect to see Dotson over Brunell to hold and Arriola running out at left-forward. Look for Morris to return to centre-forward, despite the overwhelming evidence that he is not best deployed there. Ferreira, who is normally favoured at right-forward is injured, so look for Kingston to play on the right as a kind of half-winger switching back and forth with the overlapping right-back Kossa-Rienzi.

The problem with this selection is that everyone is going to be knackered for Saturday when we face the Loons. I hope this prediction is dead wrong, and that management elects to mix and match veteran and youth players so we have a properly rested squad come Saturday.

GK     Thomas

LB     Nouhou

LCH     Ragen

RCH     Alex

RB        Kossa-Rienzi

LDM    Dotson

RDM   Cristian

LF     Arriola

CAM   Rusnak

RF     Kingston

CF     Morris

Intangibles

The Referee for Saturday night’s match will be Joe Dickerson.

SEA record with Dickerson as Ref: 12-1-10

RSL record with Dickerson as Ref: 5-1-8

SEA aggregate squad estimated transfer value: €50.83M

RSL aggregate squad estimated transfer value: €54.65M

Sounders 2026 transfer fees paid: €5.2M

RSL 2026 transfer fees paid: €14.77M

General notes on personnel

Salt Lake transfers IN:

Henry (Reims) free

Cowell (San Jose Earthquakes) free

Booth (Excelsior Rotterdam) loan

Dillon - reserves

Rocio - reserves

Riquelme - reserves

Solans - draft

Engel (Middlesbrough) €830,000

Spierings (Brondby) free

Parker - reserves

Guilavogui (Lens) €5M

Sanabria (Atletico San Luis) €2.1M

Lobjanidze (Atlanta United FC) €550,000

Arias (Atletico Nacional) €1.7M

Rodrigues - reserves

Guske (Orlando City SC) loan (fee €45,000)

Booth (FC Twente) loan

Shokalook (Chicago Fire FC) €130,000

Zagar (FK IMT Belgrade) €2M

de Fougerolles (Fulham) loan

Salt Lake transfers OUT:
Agada (Real Zaragoza) free

Ajago (Sacramento Republic) free

Bell - released

Brown - released

Farnsworth (Monterey Bay) free

Lambert (Louisville City) free

MacMath - retired

Russell - released

Silva (Detroit City) free

Wellings - released

Vera (CF Montreal) €1.03M

Ojeda (Orlando City SC) €1M

Cruz (Botafogo) end of loan

Concalves - released

Rocio (Club America) loan

Wolff (Sacramento Republic) loan

Stajduhar (Las Vegas Lights) loan

Palacio (Toronto FC) €960,000

Zambrano (New England Revolution) loan

Gozo (Crystal Palace) €13M

Ruiz (Los Angeles Galaxy) €345,000

Olatunji (SK Beveren) loan

Comparison against common opponents

SEA 2:0 COL

COL 3:3 SEA

RSL 2:1 COL

COL 1:0 RSL

(against COL: SEA 1-1-0 +2, RSL 1-0-1 0) edge SEA

STL 0:1 SEA

SEA 4:1 STL
STL 1:1 RSL

(against STL: SEA 2-0-0 +4, RSL 0-1-0 0) decisive edge SEA

MIN 0:0 SEA

MIN 1:1 RSL

RSL 1:1 MIN

(against MIN: SEA 0-1-0 0, RSL 0-2-0 0) marginal edge RSL

HOU 0:1 SEA

RSL 3:0 HOU

HOU 2:1 RSL

(against HOU: SEA 1-0-0 +1, RSL 1-0-1 +2) marginal edge RSL

SEA 2:1 DAL

DAL 3:1 RSL

RSL 3:4 DAL

(against DAL: SEA 1-0-0 +1, RSL 0-0-2 -3) decisive edge SEA

SKC 1:1 SEA

RSL 3:1 SKC

(against SKC: SEA 0-1-0 0, RSL 1-0-0 +2) edge RSL

SEA 1:1 SD

SD 2:2 RSL

RSL 4:2 SD

(against SD: SEA 0-1-0 0, RSL 1-1-0 +2) decisive edge RSL

SEA 0:2 LAG

LAG 1:1 SEA

LAG 2:1 RSL

(against LAG: SEA 0-1-1 -2, RSL 0-0-1 -1) even

LAFC 1:0 SEA

LAFC 3:1 RSL

RSL 2:2 LAFC

(against LAFC: SEA 0-0-1 -1, RSL 0-1-1 -2) even

SEA 1:5 POR
POR 2:1 SEA

RSL 2:0 POR
POR 2:1 RSL

(against POR: 0-0-2 -5, RSL 1-0-1 +1) decisive edge RSL

ATX 3:1 SEA

SEA 1:2 ATX

RSL 2:1 ATX

(against ATX: SEA 0-0-2 -3, RSL 1-0-0 +1) decisive edge RSL

SEA 0:2 VAN

VAN 0:3 SEA CCC

SEA 2:1 VAN* CCC *Spokane

VAN 1:0 RSL

RSL 0:3 VAN

(against VAN: SEA 2-0-1 +2, RSL 0-0-2 -4) decisive edge SEA

TIG 2:0 SEA CCC

SEA 3:1 TIG CCC

TIG 1:1 RSL LC

(against TIG: SEA 1-0-1 0, RSL 0-1-0 0) marginal edge SEA

Know Thine Enemy

The Salt Lake as they lined up in their 0:3 loss to Vancouver at State Street on 19 September.

GOALKEEPER

Rafael Cabral, 36

Brazil (3/0)

Notable Clubs: Santos (151/0), Napoli (32/0), Sampdoria (2/0), Reading (95/0), Cruzeiro (95/0), Real Salt Lake (58/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €200,000

Notes: Full name: Rafael Cabral Barbosa. Won a Copa do Brasil, a Copa Libertadores, and a Recopa Sudamericana with Santos. Won a Coppa Italia and a Supercoppa Italia with Napoli. Won a Brazilian Serie B title with Cruzeiro.

DEFENCE

Juan Sanabria, 26

Uruguay (8/1)

Notable Clubs: Real Zaragoza (13/1), San Luis (163/8), Real Salt Lake (22/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €4M

Notes: Full name: Juan Manuel Sanabria Magole). Devleoped by Nacional Florida, Nacional, and Atletico Madrid.

Philip Quinton, 26

United States

Notable Clubs: Columbus Crew SC (13/1), Real Salt Lake (55/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €800,000

Notes: Developed by FC Portland. Won MLS Cup with Columbus Crew SC.

Kobi Henry, 22

United States

Notable Clubs: Orange County SC (27/1), Real Salt Lake (8/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €100,000

Notes: Developed by Florida Rush, Orlando City SC, and Inter Miami CF. Has played for United States (7/0) at youth levels. Won a USL Cup with Orange County SC.

DeAndre Yedlin, 33

United States (81/0)

Notable Clubs: Seattle Sounders FC (56/1), Tottenham (1/0), Sunderland (23/0), Newcastle (112/3), Galatasaray (27/1), Inter Miami CF (65/0), FC Cincinnati (55/0), Real Salt Lake (25/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €600,000

Notes: Developed by Crossfire Premier, Northwest Nationals, an unnamed youth football club in New York, and Seattle Sounders FC. Played his university football at Akron (45/1). Won a MLS league Championship and US Open Cup double with Seattle Sounders FC. Won an English Football League Championship title with Newcastle. Won an MLS league Championship and a Leagues Cup with Inter Miami CF. Won a CONCACAF Nations League with United States. Named Young Athlete of the Year 2014 by the United States FA.

MIDFIELD

Morgan Guilavogui, 28

Guinea (20/2)

Notable Clubs: Toulon (54/12), Paris FC (82/26), Lens (39/3), St. Pauli (25/6), Real Salt Lake (19/2)

Estimated Transfer Value: €4.5M

Notes: Developed by Saint-Etienne and Toulon. Won a French Cup with Lens.

Colin Guske, 19

United States

Notable Clubs: Orlando City SC (11/0), Real Salt Lake (5/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €400,000

Notes: Developed by Jacksonville FC and Orlando City SC. Played for United States (14/2) at youth levels.

Noel Caliskan, 26

Germany

Notable Clubs: Portland Timbers (4/0), Real Salt Lake (55/2)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.8M

Notes: Developed by Koln and Fortuna Dusseldorf. Played his university football at Loyola Marymount (65/9).

Saba Lobjanidze, 31

Georgia (40/4)

Notable Clubs: Dinamo Tbilisi (59/12), Randers (84/28), Fatih Karagumruk (10/2), Atlanta United FC (85/14), Real Salt Lake (11/2)

Estimated Transfer Value: €2M

Notes: Developed by Norchi Dinamoeli, FC Tbilisi, and Dinamo Tbilisi. Won a Georgian League championship, 2x Georgian Cup, and a Georgian Super Cup with Dinamo Tbilisi.

FORWARD

Sergi Solans, 23

Spain

Notable Clubs: Real Salt Lake (23/9)

Estimated Transfer Value: €5M

Notes: Full name: Sergi Solans Ormo. Developed by Girona. Played his university football at Oregon State (16/14) and UCLA (19/16).

Aiden Hezarkhani, 19

United States

Notable Clubs: Real Salt Lake (23/2)

Estimated Transfer Value: €3M

Notes: Developed by Irvine Strikers and Real Salt Lake. Played for United States (3/1) at youth levels.

Familiar Faces

Salt Lake defender, DeAndre Yedlin is a Seattle native and played for the Sounders FC (56/1) from 2013-2014.

Salt Lake Sporting Director/CSO Kurt Schmid worked for the Sounders for nine years starting as an Assistant Coach, later serving as Head Scout, and then promoted to Director of Player Personnel.

Squads

Sounders FC from:

Frei, Thomas, Anchor, Gomez Andrade, Hawkins, Kim, Kossa-Rienzi, Lopez, Nouhou, Alex, Ragen, Sailor, Brunell, Dotson, Gomez, Kingston, Clark, Cristian, Rusnak, Arriola, Morris, Musovski.

Note: Joveljic has been called up by Serbia for UEFA Nations League.

Salt Lake from:

Cabral, Stajduhar, Kerkvliet, Yedlin, Henry, Quinton, Junqua, Rivera, Villa, Katranis, Spierings, Eneli, Taylor Booth, Guske, Anderson, Moisa, Riquelme, Marquez, Caliskan, Guilavogui, Shokalook, Solans, Parker, Barea, Hezarkhani, Cowell, Rodrigues.

Notes: Sanabria (Uruguay) and de Fougerolles (Canada) have been called into their national teams. Recently signed forward, Dusan Zagar is unavailable for selection. No reason was disclosed by the club although it may have to do with problems related to securing the Serbian national’s work visa.

Injury List

(as listed on mlssoccer.com at press time)

Sounders FC -

OUT: Rothrock (hamstring), Ferreira (hamstring), De la Vega (quadriceps), Petkovic (knee).

MATCHDAY DECISION: none.

Salt Lake -

OUT: Arias (hamstring), Zach Booth (hamstring), Dillon (foot), Engel (hamstring), Glad (adductor), Luna (knee), Piol (Achilles).

MATCHDAY DECISION: none.

Discipline

(as listed on mlssoccer.com at press time)

Sounders FC: No players suspended. Dotson out next match if booked.

Salt Lake: No players suspended. Guske out next match if booked.

Fun Fact

Sounders FC Reserves have qualified for the MLS Next Pro Cup play-in match for the western region. The opponent will be San Jose Earthquakes II. The fixture will be played sometime between 9-11 October. The winner qualifies for the opening round of the tournament proper as the 8th seed. Good luck, lads. We’ll be pulling for you.