The Seattle Sounders will be playing the decisive game in the Heritage Cup, fittingly with both teams wearing throwback jerseys. The Sounders come into this game riding a four-game unbeaten streak, while the Earthquakes are winless in four.

Here’s what you need to know:

Injury news

Sounders

OUT: Paul Arriola - Knee; Stefan Frei - Head; Stuart Hawkins - Quad; Nouhou - Suspension; João Paulo - Knee; Jackson Ragen - Suspension

Earthquakes

OUT: Noel Buck - Lower Body; Vítor Costa - Lower Body; DeJuan Jones - Lower Body; Benji Kikanović - Upper Body; Daniel Munie - Lower Body

Opposition players to watch

Cristian Espinoza: The winger has quietly been one of the most consistent playmakers in the entire league ever since he arrived in 2019. Now often deployed as a wing back under Bruce Arena’s 3-5-2, he’s still cooking up big numbers.
Cristian Arrango: It’s easy to forget but during the first-half of last season, Arrango was a MVP contender. He hasn’t quite returned to that form, but he does have 10 goals in 19 games. He remains a handful and is sometimes even deployed as a playmaker.

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Stats to look smart

43.8: If I were to ask you who leads the league in xG, I’d guess you’d say “the Earthquakes?” mainly because you’re reading a story previewing them. But that’s still pretty surprising, right? Bruce Arena’s squad has racked up 43.8 xG and turned that into 44 actual goals which is tied for the second most in MLS.

6: The Sounders have given up six penalty goals in their last six games, which is tied for the most a MLS team has ever allowed in that long of a stretch. They’d be well advised not to do that again.

Tactics to impress

Somewhat counter to how people think of Arena’s teams, this squad is all gas and no brakes. The Earthquakes want to attack and they aren’t that worried about what they give up as a result. They’ve given up three or more goals on five separate occasions this season. That makes them exploitable.
The Sounders simply need to figure out how to keep 11 players on the pitch and stop conceding penalties. That shouldn’t be too hard, but they’ve found it nearly impossible over the last six games as they’ve had a player sent off or allowed a penalty in each of those games. They should stop that.