The Seattle Sounders will look to get their first win of the MLS season on Saturday against longtime bogey team LAFC. The Sounders haven’t beaten LAFC at home since 2021, and have won just 1 of 11 meetings overall.

Here’s what you need to know:

Injury news

Sounders

OUT: Reed Baker-Whiting - Hamstring

LAFC

OUT: Lorenzo Dellavalle - Thigh

QUESTIONABLE: Maxime Chanot - Head; Odin Thiago Holm - Ankle; Igor Jesus - Flu-like Symptoms; Timmy Tillman - Flu-like Symptoms

Opposition players to watch

Denís Bounga: Ever heard of him? Well, he got off to a bit of a slow start without a goal in LAFC’s first four games, but he just had a brace in their Tuesday match against the Columbus Crew. He’ll be a handful.
David Martinez: The stats don’t jump off the page, but everyone seems very excited about the Venezualan winger. The 19-year-old is obviously very skilled and is sort of a right-sided version of Bouanga, coming in on his left foot.

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Stats to look smart

Since losing their season-opener to the Colorado Rapids – in frigid temperatures – LAFC have gone 4-0-0 and have not allowed a goal. Their offense still has some question marks, but their defense looks very good. Notably, all four of those wins were at home.
Olivier Giroud still has just two goals in 23 appearances across all competitions for LAFC.

Tactics to impress

LAFC seems to have ditched the 5-2-3 they were playing toward the end of last year and are setting up more in a 4-3-3 that they played for most of Steve Cherundolo’s time.
Whether it’s in a 5-2-3 or a 4-3-3, LAFC still don’t seem very interested in having the ball. The only game where they’ve outpossessed their opponent this year is when they played Minnesota United, another team who’s not very interest in having the ball. Expect them to spend a lot of time looking for counter-attack opportunities.