Seattle Sounders vs. Sporting Kansas City Prediction, Preview, and Odds - 10/23/21
Seattle Sounders vs Sporting Kansas City
The first-place Seattle Sounders battled on the road to a 1-1 draw with the Colorado Rapids thanks to a late Cristian Roldan goal. Seattle is unbeaten in five of its last six matches with four victories, one draw and one loss. The Sounders have extended their lead atop the Western Conference to 6 points although Seattle has played one more match than second-place Sporting Kansas City. Seattle will play without Jordan Morris, Jordy Delem, Nico Lodeiro, Brad Smith and Raul Ruidiaz.
Sporting Kansas City was defeated by the Vancouver Whitecaps 2-1 in their most recent MLS fixture last Sunday. Vancouver opened the scoring with two goals in the first half and Sporting Kansas City was able to narrow the lead to 2-1 on a goal by Johnny Russell in the 43rd minute. However, neither club scored in the second half and Sporting KC fell to the loss. Sporting Kansas City will play without Felipe Hernandez, Jaylin Lindsey and Alan Pulido.
Seattle attempting to strengthen grip on 1st place
The Seattle Sounders are first in the Western Conference standings with a record of 17-7-6, 58 points and a +24 goal difference. Seattle has allowed only 26 goals in its 30 matches, which is first in the MLS. The back line and goalkeeper for Seattle have allowed one goal or less in four of the last five matches. Sounders goalkeeper Stefan Cleveland has appeared in 15 of Seattle's 30 matches and has allowed 17 goals, while Stefan Frei has appeared in 13 matches and allowed only eight goals.
Seattle is unbeaten in 5 of its last 6 matches with only a 2-1 loss on the road to the Houston Dynamo mixed in. Seattle will be without its leading scorer Raul Ruidiaz, who has scored 16 goals, because of a strained hamstring. Fredy Montero and Cristian Roldan each have scored six goals for Seattle and Jimmy Medranda has scored four. Joao Paulo is the leader in assists with 8 and three others have four assists apiece.
Sporting Kansas City Fighting off Colorado Rapids search
Sporting Kansas City is second in the MLS Western Conference standings with a record of 15-7-7, 52 points and a +19 goal difference. Sporting Kansas City is tied on points with third-place Colorado but has one more victory and an eight-goal advantage in goal difference. Sporting KC has one match in hand with 29 played while both first-place Seattle and third-place Colorado have each played 30.
Sporting KC has three victories along with two losses in its most recent five matches in the MLS. Daniel Salloi is the leading goal scorer for Sporting KC with 16 and Johnny Russell has scored 11. Salloi and Russell are co-leaders in assists with 7 each. Tim Melia has appeared in 24 of Sporting Kansas City's 29 matches and over that span has allowed 26 goals. On the season, Sporting Kansas City has scored 52 goals and allowed 33. The 52 goals scored by Sporting Kansas City is second in the MLS to only New England.
Pick: Sporting Kansas City +260
Sporting Kansas City has scored 52 goals this season and has allowed only 33 and will be facing a Seattle Sounders 11 that is missing its leading goal scorer Raul Ruidiaz (16 goals) due to injury. Seattle is a tough nut to crack at home as the Sounders have won each of their last three on their home pitch but will be facing a Sporting Kansas City 11 that is unbeaten in five of its last seven on the road and fending off the challenge of third place Colorado. The two have split two meetings this season with each winning on the road. Sporting Kansas City defeated Seattle in late July on the road 3-1 and will do so again on Saturday against the undermanned Sounders.
Total: Over
In each of the two fixtures between the two this season the goal total has exceeded the 2.5 goals per match threshold with four goals scored in the first meeting and 3 in the second. Sporting Kansas City has seen the goal total finish over in each of its last five matches and Seattle has seen the goal total finish over in 5 of the last six.