Seattle Sounders will welcome Austin FC at Lumen Field on Wednesday in an attempt to hold on to their two-point lead atop the Western Conference standings of Major League Soccer.
Last Saturday, Seattle defeated Houston Dynamo 1-0 to snap a three-match losing streak in all competitions. Meanwhile, the Verde and Black have lost eight straight MLS games, most recently to Dallas in a 1-0 result.
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After a string of disappointing performances, Brian Schmetzer saw his side turn things around last weekend as Houston Dynamo received two red cards. The two-man advantage helped Sounders score a late winner.
They will play four of their next five domestic matches in Seattle, where Sounders are coming off a 2-1 setback to Sporting Kansas City, their only home loss of the season and the only time they have conceded at Lumen Field in 2023.
Eight Sounders players have at least one goal involvement, showing how deep this club's resources are. Nine Sounders players have scored goals during the current season.
After coming off a regular season that established a franchise record in 2022, Austin has struggled to build on that success this year, collecting just 10 points from 11 league games—less than half of what they did at this time in 2022.
This squad has fallen farther down the domestic standings, currently lying in 12th place, two points off of a playoff spot in the Western Conference, since losing to the Haitian team Violette in the CONCACAF Champions League (CCL) elimination round in the middle of March.
Josh Wolff's team has lost four straight road games in this competition, failing to score in three of those games, and has given up five points this year when leading in the second half.
Here GOAL brings you everything you need to know about how to watch, including TV channel, streaming details and more.
Seattle Sounders vs Austin kick-off time
| Date: | May 17, 2023 |
| Kick-off time: | 10:30 pm ET / 7:30 pm PT |
| Venue: | Lumen Field |
Seattle Sounders and Austin face off on May 17 at Lumen Field. Kickoff is set for 10:30 pm Eastern Time (ET), or 7:30 pm Pacific Time (PT).
How to watch Sounders vs Austin online - TV channels & live streams
 | Apple TV | Watch here |
The game will not be broadcast live on TV but will be available to stream live online through Apple TV MLS Season Pass.
Team news & squads
Sounders team news
Seattle Sounders will be boosted by the news that Obed Vargas is back from injury. So far, Jordan Morris is the MLS joint-top scorer with eight goals.
Seattle Sounders possible XI: Frei; A. Roldan, Gomez, Ragen, Arreaga; Rusnak, Vargas; Lodeiro, Heber, Chu; Morris
| Position | Players |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Frei, Cleveland |
| Defenders | Tolo, Arreaga, Andrade, A. Roldan, Cissoko |
| Midfielders | Lodeiro, Rusnak, Morris, Chu, Roldan, Paulo, Leyva, Teves |
| Forwards | Montero, Heber |
Austin team news
Austin has Julio Cascante, Ethan Finlay and Zan Kolmanic unavailable for selection. Diego Fagundez will miss out yet again due to a relapse of his injury. Left-back Jon Gallagher has been Austin's top scorer as they have struggled to find form up front.
Austin FC possible XI: Stuver; Lima, Ring, Cascante, Vaisanen, Lundqvist; Redes, Valencia, Pereira, Rigoni; Zardes
| Position | Players |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Stuver, Bersano |
| Defenders | Lima, Vaisanen, Kolmanic, Keller, Jimenez, Tarek, Gallagher, Lundqvist |
| Midfielders | Driussi, Valencia, Ring, Wolff, Djeffal, Asensio |
| Forwards | Rigoni, Zardes, Urruti, Bruin, Ocampo-Chavez |
Head-to-Head Record
Seattle Sounders and Austin FC have only faced each other four times so far, with Austin not having managed a single win yet. Seattle on the other hand has won twice. All their affairs have been close and low-scoring encounters.