Whenever the Seattle Sounders and Atlanta United meet, it’s a chance for arguably the two biggest clubs in MLS to measure up one another. Right now, the Sounders are on the ascent while Atlanta is trying to recover from a disastrous 2020 in which they fired their coach after just five games and finished outside the playoffs for the first time in their history.

Atlanta United is off to a somewhat promising, if still uneven, start. They’re 2-1-2 and in the thick of the playoff race, coming off an emotional win last week in which they found the game winner in the dying moments to send a crowd of 40,000 into delirium. That may be covering for what has otherwise been an inauspicious start to the Gabriel Heinze era, in which they’ve dominated possession but struggled to score.

The Sounders, meanwhile, have been by far the league’s best team to date, with a league-best 16 points and +11 goal-difference. They’ll again be without a couple of their stars, but that’s been the norm so far this year.

Notes

• Seattle has a win and two draws in three all-time meetings with Atlanta United. The Sounders are one of two teams Atlanta has played but never defeated in MLS (D3 L2 vs. Inter Miami).
• The Sounders are the ninth team in the post-shootout era (since 2000) to open a season with at least 16 points in their first six games. Seattle is the one of two teams to do so more than once after getting off to the same start in 2019 as they went on to win MLS Cup (the other is Sporting Kansas City: 18 points in 2012 and 16 points in 2000).
• Atlanta United has recorded just one win in its last 12 away matches (0-7-4) dating back to the resumption of the 2020 regular season in August. Meanwhile, the Sounders are on a seven-game home winning streak and a 12-game home unbeaten run (11-0-1) in MLS play dating back to last year. The Sounders are 18-1-2 at home against MLS opponents since Aug. 4, 2019.

Liveblog

Absences: Injury, international duty and suspension

Seattle:

QUESTIONABLE: Atencio (R hamstring strain)

OUT: Nicolas Lodeiro (R knee pain), Stefan Frei (L knee sprain), Jordy Delem (R ACL), Jordan Morris (L ACL)

Atlanta:

QUESTIONABLE: Mo Adams (sports hernia), Alec Kann (shoulder)

OUT: Machop Chol (lower body), Ezequiel Barco (lower body), Jürgen Damm (lower body); Alan Franco (lower body)

Officials

Referee: Kevin Stott; AR1: Mike Rottersman; AR2: Chris Elliott; Fourth official: Ramy Touchan; VAR: Younes Marrakchi; Ast. VAR: Fabio Tovar.

How to Watch

Match date/kickoff time: Sunday, May 23, 1:55 PM PT

Venue: Lumen Field, Seattle

Online Streaming: Fubo TV (affiliate link), Locast.org (Seattle-area only)

National English TV: Fox (John Strong, Stu Holden)

Local Radio: 950 KJR-AM Seattle (Costigan, Keller, Zakuani)

Local Spanish Radio: El Rey 1360 AM (Rodriguez, Maqueda, Tapia)

National Spanish TV: Fox Deportes

International TV:

Balkans: Arena Sport

Brazil: DAZN

Bulgaria: MAX Sport

Cypress: Cytavision

Czech Republic & Slovakia: Nova Sport

Georgia: Silk Sport

Germany: Sportdigital

Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy & Spain: DAZN

Greece: Nova Sports India: Discovery Eurosport

Israel: Charlton

Latin America (excl. Brazil): ESPN Latin America

Netherlands: ESPN Netherlands

Norway: Strive

Poland: Polstat

Southeast Asia & Oceania: beIN Sports

Sub-Saharan Africa: ESPN Africa

Taiwan: Sportcast

United Kingdom & Ireland: Sky Sports

Lineups

Highlights will be posted as the match progresses.

This is Seattle Sounders vs. Atlanta United; watch with us

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