3 p.m. at Seattle • FSN, 1500-AM
Final day will determine plenty
Preview: It's "Decision Day" in MLS, which means all 12 games on the regular season's final day start at 3 p.m. Central time to maintain the integrity of each game. You can bet United coach Adrian Heath and his staff will scoreboard watch if needed. Beat a Sounders team it has never defeated in three MLS seasons and United clinches second place and two home playoff games in the Western Conference if it wins its first-round game. Tie and it clinches a first-round home game. Lose and United would need L.A. Galaxy or Real Salt Lake to lose or draw their games to clinch a home game. … The Sounders have lost just twice at CenturyLink Field this season while United is 5-9-2 away from Allianz Field. The two teams played to a 1-1 draw in St. Paul in early May. … United hasn't won on Decision Day its first two MLS seasons. … Seattle defenders Nouhou Tolo and Xavier Arreaga are suspended because of yellow card or caution accumulations. … United defender Ike Opara trained on his own with a staff member during the week. Heath called his work maintenance on "tightness in a couple different areas." Said Opara: "No problem. Just making sure I'm hitting my wave at the right time."… United goalkeeper Vito Mannone tied the club regular-season record for appearances with 33 and set the club single-season record for minutes with 2,970, surpassing Jerome Thiesson's 2,955 in 2017.
Injuries: United lists none after M Ozzie Alonso and M Kevin Molino sat out last Sunday's 1-1 draw with LAFC because each was stiff and sore. The Sounders list F Will Bruin (ACL) out. M Nicolas Lodeiro (lower back) and D Jonathan Campbell (calf) are questionable.
JERRY ZGODA
