The Seattle Sounders head into the meat of what promises to be one of the toughest stretches of their season when they face LAFC today at 7:30 PM PT. This is the second of a three-game road trip that will conclude on Saturday against the Portland Timbers.

The Sounders come into the game riding a five-game unbeaten streak in which they've claimed 13 of a possible 15 points. LAFC are also unbeaten in five, albeit with a more pedestrian nine points.

Here’s what you need to know:

Injury news

Sounders

OUT: Paul Arriola - Knee; Jordan Morris - Hamstring; Jackson Ragen - Hamstring

LAFC

OUT: Maxime Chanot - Head

Opposition players to watch

Denís Bouanga: After opening the season by going scoreless in his first eight league games, Bouanga is back to his old self. The winger has five goals and two assists in his past five games and is once again causing all sorts of headaches for opposing defenses.
Nathan Ordaz: A rare success story coming out of the LAFC Academy, Ordaz seems to be coming into his own these days. The 21-year-old has four goals and two assists across all competitions while taking over the right wing spot opposite Bouanga.

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Stats to look smart

4.4 – LAFC's turnaround isn't just a matter of the results going their way, they are generally playing much better and have maybe even bit a unlucky. This is perhaps most easily illustrated by their +4.4 xGD over the last five games. That ranks fourth in MLS over that period.

.32 – If you ever catch yourself wondering "how is Danny Musovski doing this?" just consider that his average shot is worth .32 xG. The player with the next best non-penalty per-shot xG is Hugo Cuypers at .27. Fully 45% of Musovski's shots are considered "great" xG chances.

Tactics to impress

Last year, LAFC gained a reputation for playing an almost anti-fun brand of soccer. Steve Cherundolo was more than happy to sit his exceptionally talented team in a low block and just look for counters. But after a slow start, Cherundolo has loosened up and gotten satisfying results. LAFC currently ranks in top half of possession stats and has eclipsed 65% possession in three games, something they never did last year. All of which is to say, LAFC will now take the ball if you let them.
It's gone mostly unremarked upon outside of this space, but the Sounders have quietly become a pretty effective pressing team. The move to a 4-2-3-1 formation has altered that slightly, but we could see the return of the 3-4-3 press if the lineup is how we are projecting.