Behind Enemy Lines: Scouting Seattle Sounders 🔎

As we've discussed a lot over the last few months, the offseason for FC Dallas was something for the ages. The big moves that headlined everything early on involved both Paul Arriola and Homegrown striker Jesus Ferreira. Both ended up being traded to the Pacific Northwest.

On Saturday, they'll head to Frisco for the first time. While Arriola won't be on the field due to an injury that will sideline him for the rest of the season, Ferreira will very much be involved with what the Seattle Sounders are doing this weekend.

Let's dive into Saturday's opponent a bit to see what Seattle brings to the match and how FC Dallas could extend its home winning streak.

Key Player: Jesus Ferreira

In all honesty, Ferreira isn't really the key player right now for the Sounders. He's had a bit of a struggle adapting to his new team and they've struggled figuring out where he fits in the best. The main reason to single him out here is the emotions of returning to Frisco after being such a key fixture with FC Dallas over the last decade or so. It will be very interesting to see how he handles this return and how the fans handle it.

Key Matchup: Jesus Ferreira vs Nolan Norris

Yeah, we're going to stick with singling out Ferreira here. This will be a classic Homegrown vs Homegrown matchup that could be very entertaining to watch.

Availability Report1:

Suspended: none
Out: Paul Arriola (knee)
Questionable: Jordan Morris (hamstring), Danny Musovski (back)
On Loan: Leo Burney
International duty: none

Quick Notes:

Last time against FCD: The two sides met in Washington last summer when the Sounders picked up a come-from-behind 3-2 win over FC Dallas.

Last time in Frisco: The two sides played to a scoreless draw early in the 2024 season, extending their all-time road record in Frisco to 4-7-7.

All-time against FCD: Seattle has mostly dominated the all-time series against FC Dallas, going 15-8-11.

Recent form: Brian Schmetzer's club has been struggling as of late. It could be the very real burnout from dealing with the Concacaf Champions Cup early in the year, or getting the right lineup going for each game. Seattle is 1-3-3, with their only win coming at home in a wild 5-2 win over LAFC.

Potential Lineup:

Schmetzer has been trying to figure out where to put a player like Ferreira in his 3-4-3 lineup for sometime now. Given some of the injuries the Sounders have at the moment, we're expecting them to look something like this on Saturday:

Frei; Nouhou, Ragen, Yeimir; Rothrock, Varges, C. Roldan, A. Roldan; Minoungou, Ferreira, Rusnak

Keys To Three Points over Seattle

1. Apply some pressure up top: One thing that San Diego was able to do last weekend in their blowout win over the Sounders was apply a lot of pressure to the Sounders' defensive group. San Diego forced a lot of bad turnovers in the Sounders' defensive end, a couple of which lead to goals in the first half.
2. Hit the counters: If there has been one thing that FC Dallas has done well this season, its been on the counter attacking side of things. The combination of Lucho Acosta and Petar Musa has been pretty deadly at creating and finishing chances. With Seattle playing three in the back these days, the ability to stretch out their defensive group could be a key factor in this one on Saturday.
3. Don't come out slow: Given the big trades involving these two clubs in the offseason, emotions could be running high early on in this match. Dallas cannot afford to come out slow again at home and work to grind out another come-from-behind result. This is their only home game of the month, which means it is a must-win. Start strong and finish strong. That needs to be the clear message this week.

1 Note: MLS has a new injury report deadline that doesn’t hit until the day before each game. I will put last week’s report in these scouting reports and update where I can ahead of the weekly release from the league.