Seattle’s long wait for a league home game ended Saturday night when the Sounders hosted St. Louis City at 6:30 p.m. PT, a matchup that came nearly two months after their last league game at home. The Sounders also arrived with a favorable history in the series, having beaten St. Louis City 1-0 in the first meeting and holding a 6-1-0 edge overall, including 3-0-0 at home.
The timing mattered because Seattle entered off a 3-1 win over UANL Tigres in Concacaf Champions Cup play and a 4-1-1 start in league matches, while St. Louis City came in with some momentum of its own. In its previous five matches in all competitions, St. Louis was 2-1-2, with its only loss on the road to LAFC, and it had outscored opponents 9-3 over its previous four. Road ties at New York City and FC Dallas showed a side that had steadied itself since the first meeting with Seattle.
That sets up the clearest point of pressure in the game: whether Seattle’s home edge and historical control of the matchup could hold against a St. Louis team that has looked sharper over the past few weeks. The Sounders’ lineup was also thinned by absences, with Pedro de la Vega out with a knee injury, Yeimar Gómez Andrade out with a hamstring injury, Kim Kee-hee out with a calf injury, Nikola Petković out with a knee injury, Ryan Sailor out with a knee injury, Jaziel Orozco out in concussion protocol and Celio Pompeu out with a knee injury.
The officiating crew listed Chris Elliott as assistant referee AR1, Jeremy Hanson as AR2, Brandon Stevis as fourth official, Younes Marrakchi as video assistant referee and Fabio Tovar as assistant video assistant referee. Global English streaming was on AppleTV with Blake Price and Dunseth, while Spanish coverage was also on AppleTV with Carlos Ramierz. Local radio aired on 93.3 KJR-FM iHeartMedia with Danny Jackson and Pete Fewing, and Spanish radio was on El Rey 1360 AM with Rodriguez, Maqueda and Tapia. The match was not available to stream for free, though Sounders radio was available as an alternate feed.
Seattle has spent most of this matchup on top, but St. Louis has done enough lately to make the rematch more than a routine home date. With the Sounders carrying a busy stretch and several players sidelined, this was the kind of night that could either reaffirm their grip on the series or expose how much that grip depends on a healthy roster.
