Their only constant is mediocrity

St. Louis City SC is bad. Their sudden surge onto the scene their opening season can overshadow memories of how bad they struggled in year two and year three. Year four does not look better. That first year was exceptional on the table, but there were signs it was going to get worse. The dual-scoring leaders finished with 10. According to Fotmob their G exceeded xG by 19! The expected GD that year was negative 9.

They fell, pretty hard. They're on head coach three, with two interims who didn't get the gig. Their all time leading scorer was shipped off (and is playing better with Galaxy). The remaining attack has never hit double digits in a season.

City (called that despite being in media market 20 in MLS) is the Roman Bürki club. That's their defining characteristic, more so than the uneven and unsuccessful attack or a system or their quite energetic fans.

This is likely the easiest of matches on the road trip. Seattle's biggest challenge will be to score – made even more difficult because the Sounders winger corp is down up to four players. At least the match isn't at elevation, nor in extreme heat, nor in extreme cold and the tornados passed through the region yesterday rather than today.

All the depth need do is beat Bürki like they could not beat Cabral in Sandy, Utah.

St. Louis City is a test that a team that wants to host playoff games must pass.

Eduard Löwen is out this week, for the worst of reasons. Fuck Cancer.