One of the top teams in the west is looking to become only the fourth MLS club ever to win more than nine games in a row, and only Philadelphia Union can stop them from doing it.
You need a reason to watch? You got it.
History calling
From an impotent offense that couldn’t puncture Columbus Crew despite having an extra man all game to a club-record breaking winning streak in a just a few months. Whew. Back in mid-July it looked like the Sounders were headed for a November vacation after making two straight MLS Cup finals. Now they may be the favorite out of the Western Conference.
Seattle is very good, but they aren’t perfect. The underlying numbers suggest there are goals to be had, and Philly needs to continue their strong road form to get them. To do so, the Union must have the confidence to possess the ball and make the Sounders chase them on defense.
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Everything working
Over the course of this season, the Union have converted just under 50% of their Opta-defined big chances (a play in which “a player should reasonably be expected to score usually in a one-on-one scenario or from very close range”). Atlanta United is just over 40% on the year for comparison.
During their winning streak, Seattle is converting 58% of their big chances. That’s not only very high in general, it’s 10% higher than the Sounders season-long conversion percentage. Things are clicking in the Northwest right now.
The other thing that’s working is Stefan Frei. According to American Soccer Analysis, going into Saturday’s game against Vancouver, Seattle was allowing only 0.5 goals per game during their winning streak. However, the Sounders Expected Goals Against was over 1.5. That’s the biggest gap in the league during that period, and it points to both the importance of Frei and potentially a bit of luck. Even though they haven’t allowed more than five shots on goal in a game during this run, Seattle is clearly giving up some good looks. The Union will need to convert when they get an opening.
Who will go
A final reason to watch is to find out how Jim Curtin will play this incredibly difficult next week and a half. There’s the long trip to Seattle followed by a home match against Sporting Kansas City just days before the Open Cup final. Curtin will need to rest some of his big names at some point, and this could be a great opportunity for fans to get a glimpse of players that haven’t seen a ton of time this year. Guys like Anthony Fontana will be in contention at some point, and Derrick Jones will look to show he deserves more starts in the future.
Tune in on Wednesday evening on PHL17 to see Philly look to show they can go into Seattle and upend the Sounders before the home side becomes only the fourth team in history to win 10 or more games in a row.
