Seattle Sounders vs. LA Galaxy | Audi MLS Cup Playoffs Knockout Round Preview

MLSsoccer staff

SEATTLE SOUNDERS vs. LA GALAXY
CenturyLink Field, Seattle, Wash.
October 28, 2015 (2015 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs, Knockout Round)
10 p.m. ET (UniMás in US, TSN2, RDS2 in Canada, JOEtv)

Already seasoned playoff rivals despite their short history together, Seattle Sounders FC and the LA Galaxy meet in the Knockout Round of the 2015 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs on Wednesday evening at CenturyLink Field. Sounders FC have reached the postseason each year in their seven seasons in MLS; the Galaxy have also reached the playoffs each of the last seven years. In those seasons, this is now already the fourth MLS Cup Playoffs meeting between the clubs -- and the Galaxy have won the first three. Sounders FC come into the postseason following a 3-1 win against Real Salt Lake which extended their undefeated streak to eight games and finally secured their spot in the playoffs. The Galaxy are coming off back-to-back losses, ending the regular season in a 2-1 loss at Sporting Kansas City.

DOWNLOAD FULL GAME GUIDE (PDF)
REFEREE: Jair Marrufo. AR1 (bench): Corey Rockwell; AR2 (opposite): Frank Anderson; 4th: Juan Guzman
SUSPENDED: none
WARNINGS: none
LEAGUE HEAD-TO-HEAD: LA 8 wins, 26 GF … SEA 4 wins, 18 GF … Ties 6
2015 HEAD-TO-HEAD: LA 2 wins, 5 GF … SEA 0 wins, 2 GF … Ties 1
AT CENTURYLINK FIELD: 10/4: SEA 1, LA 1 (Barrett 93+ -- Keane 36)
MLS CUP PLAYOFFS: LA 4 wins, 9 GF … SEA 2 wins, 5 GF … Ties 0

LA and Seattle return to CenturyLink Field, the site of last year’s Western Conference Championship second leg in which the Galaxy advanced past Seattle to MLS Cup on away goals.
LA head into the Audi 2015 MLS Cup Playoffs in the midst of a three-game winless run but can look to their postseason record against Seattle (4-2) as a sign of hope.
After a stretch in the summer in which Seattle suffered through a five-game losing streak, the Sounders are 5-1-4 since Aug. 22 and are currently on an eight-game unbeaten run (4-0-4). The Sounders will also benefit greatly from home-field advantage. The club averaged a record-breaking attendance of 44,247 at CenturyLink Field this season and finished the year with the third most home wins in MLS (11).
LA Galaxy forward Robbie Keane finished the season with a career-high 20 goals in the regular season (25 in all competitions) to finish third in the Audi Golden Boot race and has notched six goals and three assists in nine career games against Seattle.
Keane will be joined by teammates who will be experiencing their first taste of the MLS postseason. Midseason acquisitions Giovani dos Santos, Steven Gerrard and Sebastian Lletget have combined for 12 goals and 10 assists.
Seattle will rely on their fearsome forward line of Clint Dempsey and Obafemi Martins, who connected for a pair of goals on #DecisionDay. The attacking duo will hope goalkeeper Stefan Frei carries his excellent regular-season form over to the postseason. Frei enjoyed a career year in 2015, posting career bests in goals against average (1.08), shutouts (10) and saves (111).