The Seattle Sounders will be facing St. Louis City for the second time this season, following a 1-0 loss on the road about six weeks ago. St. Louis is still missing several key players, but so are the Sounders.

Here’s what you need to know:

Injury news

Sounders

OUT: Paul Arriola (knee); Jesús Ferreira (adductor); Jordan Morris (hamstring); Jackson Ragen (hamstring)

St. Louis City

OUT: Roman Bürki (hand); Chris Durkin (knee); Henry Kessler (hamstring); Alfredo Morales (suspended); Tomas Totland (hamstring)

Opposition players to watch

• Marcel Hartl only has one goal so far this year, but he is clearly their most important offensive player. On a team that struggles to create shots, Hartl has 23 of the team’s 80 key passes, a whopping 29%. He’s the only player on the team with as many as 10.
• When Roman Bürki went down with a broken hand, Ben Lundt was left with massive gloves to fill. He’s mostly been up to the task. The German goalkeeper has allowed eight goals in seven starts this year, which has come on a post-shot xG of 10.1. Only five goalkeepers in the league have over-performed their xG by a larger amount on a per 90-minute basis.

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Stats to look smart

• 15: There have been just 15 goals scored by both teams in St. Louis City’s 10 matches this season, that’s the second fewest of any team. Perhaps unsurprisingly, they are also tied for the league lead with five shutouts. Of course, only one team has only been shutout more than them, either.
• 9.8: While the Sounders’ 12 goals allowed ranks in the middle third of the league, the underlying numbers suggest this is still an elite defense. Only the Vancouver Whitecaps have allowed fewer xG than the Sounders’ 9.8.

Tactics to impress

• There are conservative defensive teams and then there’s Olof Mellberg’s St. Louis City. They are not above putting eight men inside the penalty area, will routinely have the ball about 30% of the time and have fewer touches in the attacking penalty area than any other team. Not allowing an early goal is absolutely key.
• The Sounders have quietly been pretty aggressive at home. In four league games, they’ve scored 10 goals, and in six matches across all competitions they have scored 13. They seem to have gotten the message that playing exciting soccer at home is a good idea. If they can get St. Louis City to open up, we could be in for a treat.

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Opposition research

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