Preview & Prediction: St. Louis City SC against Seattle Sounders FC

St. Louis City SC enters this match-up against Seattle Sounders FC in quite a solid form, having acquired 8 points from their recent 5 matches, averaging 1.6 points per outing. Their attacking game has shown some spark, with 7 goals in their last five fixtures and 3 matches where both teams managed to score (BTTS). The team has been particularly impressive in the home circuit, remaining unbeaten in 6 games – a streak they would aim to maintain. It’s likely we could witness a high scoring encounter as St. Louis City’s last 3 matches ended with more than 2 goals. However, they have struggled to find the net in 2 of their last 5 games.

Seattle Sounders have performed slightly better, with 9 points from the last 5 games, averaging 1.8 points per match. Their games have been equally engaging, with BTTS occurring in 3 matches, and the team garnering 5 goals in the last 5 matches. They have demonstrated commendable form away from home as well, being unbeaten in 5 matches. The team has managed to keep its unbeaten streak for 8 games now, and would look to extend this in the upcoming match against St. Louis City. However, they too have been lacking in firepower upfront recently, failing to score in 2 of their last 5 games.

As the teams face off in the MLS on 26th May 2024, it’s important to note their last encounter ended in a 2-0 victory for Seattle Sounders. In their history of 2 meetings, St. Louis City hasn’t managed to win even once, while Seattle Sounders have won twice indicating their dominance. With St. Louis City’s promising home form and Seattle Sounders’ decent away form, the encounter could potentially be a captivating one. Previous encounters between these two teams have averaged 2.5 goals, whilst BTTS has occurred 0% of the time, indicating that one of the sides may fall short in front of goal. Averaging 1.71 Points Per Game, at home matches for St. Louis City and Seattle Sounders demonstrating 0.88 Points Per Game in their away matches, both teams will strive for victory in this face-off.

Insights

• St. Louis City SC boasts a strong home performance, being undefeated in their last 6 home games, additionally, they have gathered 8 points from their last 5 games.
• The team has a decent scoring rate, having recorded 7 goals in their last 5 matches, with a total of 13 goals in both home and away games.
• Despite this, they have struggled to score in 2 out of their last 5 games.
• St. Louis City plays a balanced game as evidenced by the fact that both teams scored (BTTS) in 3 of their last 5 matches and this is a trend seen in 58% of all their matches this season.
• Seattle Sounders FC brings into the game strong momentum being unbeaten in their last 8 games and having won 2 out of the last 5 games.
• Seattle Sounders has an impressive away game performance, currently unbeaten in their last 5 games.
• They have secured 9 points from their last 5 games; however, they have failed to score in 2 out of their 5 recent games.
• Both teams scoring is also a pattern with Seattle Sounders as it happened in 3 out of their last 5 games, a trend seen in 42% of all their games this season.
• Historically, Seattle Sounders have had an upper hand in the fixture. They won the last meeting and out of 2 previous encounters, they have won twice with St. Louis City yet to claim a victory
• Games between the two sides have seen an average of 2.5 goals, with no instances of both teams scoring.
• This season in MLS, St. Louis City average 1.71 Points Per Game (PPG) at home while Seattle Sounders average only 0.88 PPG in their away matches.

Match Forecast

• St. Louis City SC, with their strength in creating scoring chances, will likely create a significant number of opportunities.
• Seattle Sounders FC, with their weakness in finishing scoring chances, may struggle to capitalize on opportunities they create.
• The match can witness a considerable number of long shots because Seattle Sounders FC is strong at creating such opportunities, and St. Louis City SC is weak at defending against them.
• With both teams strong in aerial duels, the match might feature several headers and high balls.
• Both teams like to control the game in the opposition’s half, so there could be a constant back-and-forth in control of the game.
• As St. Louis City SC is aggressive and Seattle Sounders FC often finds opponents playing aggressively against them, this could result in a fairly tense and combative match.
• With St. Louis City SC’s weakness in keeping possession and Seattle Sounders FC’s style of controlling the game in the opposition’s half, the Sounders might dominate in terms of ball possession.
• Given that both teams often attempt crosses, the wings’ activity is expected to be high, leading to a critical role of the full-backs in both defensive and offensive plays.
• With St. Louis City SC strong in counter-attacks, and Seattle Sounders FC’s weakness in finishing, the former can be expected to exploit any loss of possession by Seattle.
• There may be errors from St. Louis City SC, given their trouble avoiding individual errors. This can allow opportunities for the Sounders.
• Since the Sounders often rotate their first eleven, there might be some unexpected starters or lineup dynamics which could shift the game’s flow.
• St. Louis City SC’s consistent first eleven implies well-set patterns of play, but it also means Seattle Sounders FC can analyze and strategize based on their common lineup.
• Both teams will likely focus lots on attacking set pieces due to their respective strengths in this area.

Match Facts

Interesting tidbits of information worth noting are:

• Saint Louis City SC tends to net 24% of its goals in the last 15 minutes of the match (76-90 mins).
• Similarly, Seattle Sounders have been noted to score 26% of their total goals during the 76-90 minute timeframe.
• The Seattle Sounders have enjoyed an 8-game unbeaten streak lately.
• Interestingly, Seattle Sounders have managed to evade defeat in their last 5 away games.
• Of the 16 games played at their home ground this MLS season, Saint Louis City SC failed to score in just 2.
• Throughout this season’s MLS, Seattle Sounders failed to find the back of the net in 6 out of their 16 away games.
• Eduard Lowen held the record for the most assists for Saint Louis City SC with 9 assists, while Leo Chu comes up top for Seattle Sounders with 7 assists.
• Saint Louis City SC’s Tim Parker has accumulated 9 yellow cards, more than any of his teammates. On the other hand, Jackson Ragen from Seattle Sounders has 7.
• In the first half of their games, Saint Louis City SC and Seattle Sounders’ percent victory rates stand at 27% and 24% respectively.
• The last encounter between these two teams saw Seattle Sounders emerge as victors.
• Of interest, Seattle Sounders triumphed and led with a substantial margin of 3 goals in their most recent clash.
• When playing on home ground, 91% of matches with a 1-0 lead proves favourable for Saint Louis City.
• However, when Seattle Sounders are ahead with a 1-0 lead on away games, they take full advantage of it and clinch victory 57% of the time.
• When the chips are down at home with a 0-1 scoreline, Saint Louis City SC have a 20% win rate.
• Conversely, Seattle Sounders have a slightly better win rate of 22% despite trailing 1-0 in away matches.
• So far in the Major League Soccer, Seattle Sounders boast a better showing than their counterparts, Saint Louis City SC.
• Over the past 5 games, the Seattle Sounders’ performances have outdone Saint Louis City SC’s.
• It’s noteworthy that neither team toasted a win in their most recent MLS match.
• Neither team managed to score in their last game.
• On average, Saint Louis City SC scores 2.29 goals per game when playing at home whilst Seattle Sounders net an average of 1.11 goals when they are away.