Three big storylines

1. Well week 1 is in the books and 10 teams got a win necessitating 10 teams taking a loss and six squads drawing for the ‘congrats you didn’t lose’ point. One team that won but lost is Atlanta United. They beat MLS debutantes Nashville SC 2-1 in front of almost 60,000 fans in Nashville, but Josef Martinez went down with an ACL tear and will miss the season. Martinez has an astonishing 81 league goals in his 84 games played since joining United in 2017. He is going to be tough to replace for Atlanta United and a real loss for the league overall.
2. Which expansion side will get their first win? Or even their first point? Inter Miami CF opened with an entirely understandable 1-0 loss at LAFC, they easily looked like the best of the expansion sides and will be at D.C. United on Saturday (TV Listings below) while fellow 2020 newcomer Nashville SC looked somewhat competent defensively against Atlanta United in their opening loss but their attack looks like it will need a boost. Walker Zimmerman scored their only goal on a set piece. Not an expansion side, but after the 2019 expansion year experienced by FC Cincinnati they might as well be (24 points from 34 played with four streaks of four losses in a row or more). FC Cincinnati will be in Atlanta on Saturday (4:00 PM, ESPN+). My bet is on Miami getting the first points.
3. Not an ideal start for a couple teams in week 1. D.C. United looked a bit lost and gave up three home points to the Colorado Rapids. The Rapids three points are more than they earned in their first 11 matches combined in 2019. The LA Galaxy made arguably the biggest signing of the MLS offseason with Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez. And while they did not lose their opener as they were able to secure a 1-1 away draw at the Houston Dynamo, Chicharito looked like someone who just joined the team that morning. The Galaxy have work to do and luckily they have perennial strugglers the Vancouver Whitecaps FC coming to Southern California on Saturday (7 PM, ESPN+). Lastly, the Portland Timbers lost 1-3 at home to Minnesota United in their opener, they have expansion side Nashville SC in Portland on Sunday as they look to address the issues from week 1.

From a Sounders point of view

As of the writing of this, there will still be a game played in front of fans in Seattle. Stay safe friends. Wash your hands like you just chopped jalapenos and you have to take out your contacts.

This space will hopefully have more next week as the only point of view I can come up with right now is for my friends and readers in and around Seattle and elsewhere to stay safe.

National TV listings

D.C. United v Inter Miami CF

Date/Time: Saturday, 12:30 PM PT

TV: Univision

Streaming: Twitter will again be streaming the Univision network game each week.

Portland Timbers v Nashville SC

Date/Time: Sunday, 3:00 PM PT

TV: ESPN

Streaming: Watch ESPN

LAFC v Philadelphia Union

Date/Time: Sunday, 6:30 PM PT

TV: Fox Sports 1

Streaming: Fox Sports Go

Join the Discussion

This is your Sounder at Heart MLS Week 2 gamethread. Watch with us.