U.S. Open Cup Draw: Sounders will play LA Galaxy in Round of 32

The Seattle Sounders will face the LA Galaxy on the road in the U.S. Open Cup Round of 32 on May 10. The 32 remaining teams had been placed in eight pots, ostensibly grouped geographically. Although eight lower-division teams advanced to this round, the Sounders were in one of two pots that were made up entirely of MLS teams.

The Open Cup match falls between two MLS contests, a home encounter with Sporting KC on May 7 and a road game against the Houston Dynamo on May 13. As they did in their 5-4 win over San Diego Loyal, the Sounders will likely heavily rotate their lineup in this game.

The Galaxy will have an extra day of rest on either side of the matchup and won’t have to travel, either. They host the Colorado Rapids on May 6 and the San Jose Earthquakes on May 14.

The Sounders will come into this match riding a 10-game unbeaten streak against the Galaxy.

This will be the fourth time the Sounders and Galaxy have faced each other in the Open Cup. The Sounders won the first two meetings at Starfire in 2010 and 2011, while the Galaxy won the most recent encounter in a 2016 meeting in Carson that proved to be Sigi Schmid’s penultimate game in charge.

The Sounders will be attempting to advance to the Open Cup Round of 16 for the first time since 2017, when they were bounced by the San Jose Earthquakes. They enter this match with an all-time Open Cup record of 24-6-5 and are trying to become the first MLS team to win the tournament five times.