RENTON — No team has caused the Seattle Sounders quite as much heartache — or maybe “heartburn” is a better descriptor — than LAFC, especially in recent years.
The Sounders are winless against LAFC in their last 10 meetings across all competitions, going back to 2021. During that time, LAFC have an 8-0-2 record — including 4-0-0 this year — and have outscored the Sounders 17-4.
When the two teams face off on Nov. 23 at BMO Stadium in the Western Conference semifinals, the Sounders will be trying to avoid being knocked out from a fourth straight tournament by LAFC. Last year, LAFC ended the Sounders’ season in the Western Conference semifinals before ending their Leagues Cup and U.S. Open Cup campaigns this year.
Given those results, it’s perhaps understandable that beating LAFC is starting to feel like an impossible task. Obviously, the players can’t allow themselves to fall into that trap.
“I think what we need to learn from is believing that we can play against them,” Sounders forward Jordan Morris told reporters after Wednesday’s training session. “I think sometimes going into these games when you haven’t beaten a team in a while, maybe, the belief might not be there. But we know how good we are and I think it starts with just believing and understanding the team that we have, and knowing that we can compete with anyone in this league.”
The Sounders are currently in the middle of a three-week break between games. While that’s not ideal from a rhythm perspective, it will hopefully give them a chance to get healthy. Jordan Morris and Albert Rusnák both missed the last Sounders game, while Paul Rothrock has been in and out of training while dealing with an unspecified muscle issue. Morris is already fully back in training, while Rusnák and Rothrock are expected to participate in Saturday’s scrimmage. All three are expected to be fully back in plenty of time for the LAFC match.
