Everything you need to know about Sounders-Galaxy

The Seattle Sounders close out their three-game homestand with a match against the LA Galaxy tonight at 6:15 PM. It will also be their final home game until July 19, when they return from the World Cup break. The Sounders are coming off a thrilling 3–2 win over the San Jose Earthquakes, while the Galaxy are coming off a dispiriting 3–1 loss to Sporting KC.

Here’s what you need to know:

Injury news

Sounders

OUT: Pedro de la Vega — Knee; Nikola Petković — Knee; Yeimar Gómez Andrade — Hamstring; Alex Roldan — Hamstring

Galaxy

OUT: Julian Aude — Ankle; João Klauss — Foot

QUESTIONABLE: Emiro Garces — Foot

Opposition players to watch

Marco Reus: The midfielder will turn 37 in a few days, but he’s still productive. Reus has four goals and four assists in less than 900 minutes while featuring in every match. No longer as dynamic as he once was, but still plenty effective.

Gabriel Pec: Ever since Riqui Puig went down, Pec hasn’t quite been the player he was but he’s still capable of producing magical moments when given the chance. He can be a handful coming down the right wing and will surely keep Nouhou busy.

Stats to look smart

11 – The Seattle Sounders last lost at home to the LA Galaxy on July 9, 2016 – a few weeks before Brian Schmetzer was took over as head coach. The Sounders have gone 6–0–5 against the Galaxy at home in the 11 meetings since.

0 – Although Danny Musovski, Osaze De Rosario and Jordan Morris have combined for six goals this year, none of them have scored in a game in which they started at the No. 9.

Tactics to impress

Ever since he took over as head coach of the Galaxy, Greg Vanney has been pretty devoted to deploying a 4–3–3 and holding the ball a ton. That’s started to change this year as they’ve only used that formation three times and not at all since Week 4. They’ve also been less dedicated to holding the ball, as they now keep just 50% of possession.
The Sounders have seemingly returned to a lot of what made them so much fun last year, as they’ve been able to impose their will much more strongly over the past three to five games. Expect a lot of possession, especially in the Galaxy’s end.