Wednesday, May 14 | 7:30 p.m. PT
🏟 | BMO Stadium - Los Angeles, CA
📻 | 710 AM ESPN, ESPN LA App, and KFWB 980 AM La Mera Mera
🔁 | Re-air on Fri. 5/16 at 10 p.m. on FOX 11 Plus (KCOP-TV Ch. 13)
🗓 | Calendar sync
🛍 | LAFC HQ open 10:00 a.m.-5:30 p.m.
🕹 | Level Up Arcade open pre-game from 5:30-7:30 p.m. and for 90 minutes after the final whistle.
Music, entertainment, and special guests from the Asian American & Pacific Islander (AAPI) community will fill our home in the Heart of LA Wednesday night. Food and drink specials only available for AAPI Night at BMO Stadium include:
Lava Lava Chicken Sando – LA Rotisserie, Section 109
Burger Bun | Spicy Huli Huli Sauce | Pineapple Coleslaw
Wok This Way Noodles – LA Rotisserie, Section 109
Teriyaki Chicken | Red Onion | Carrots | Napa Cabbage | Green Onion | Bean Sprouts
Passionfruit Breeze – 110 North Bar, Section 111
1800 Tequila Blanco | Passionfruit Agua Fresca | Splash of Grapefruit Soda | Pineapple Wedge Garnish
Since LAFC joined Major League Soccer in 2018, two clubs have won more games than anyone else in the Western Conference. Those two sides will clash again on Wednesday night as the Seattle Sounders visit BMO Stadium for the first time since they defeated the Black & Gold in the 2024 Western Conference Semifinal.
LAFC has held the upper hand in this hard-fought series over the years, winning 13 of 24 meetings in all competitions. The Sounders have won two straight, however, including a stoppage-time victory in that conference semifinal six months ago, which eliminated LAFC from the MLS Cup Playoffs.
Wednesday’s match—LAFC’s first MLS midweek fixture of the year—finds both sides riding a crest of improved performance following bumpy beginnings to their respective 2025 campaigns.
LAFC (5W-4L-3D for 18 points, 6th in the Western Conference) and the Sounders (5-3-4, 19 points, 5th) are both unbeaten over their last five matches, an upswing that speaks to each club’s culture of resilience as reflected by their well-stocked trophy cases.
TWIN TITANS
Since LAFC’s inaugural season in 2018, the Black & Gold has won 117 regular-season matches and earned 407 points. Both totals are tops in MLS over that span. Seattle has won 109 matches and tallied 384 goals, third-best in the league (behind Philadelphia Union), and second-best in the West.
Meetings between these two sides have been both numerous and significant. Only the Galaxy have faced LAFC as many times as Seattle has. In a 13-month span in 2023 and 2024, LAFC faced the Sounders in a knockout match four times, defeating them on the road in the first three clashes (2023 Western Conference Semifinal, 2024 Leagues Cup Quarterfinal, and 2024 U.S. Open Cup Semifinal) before falling at BMO last November.
SEATTLE THIS YEAR
The Sounders were eliminated from 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup in the Round of 16 and won just one MLS game out of their first seven. That lone win was a 5-2 result at Lumen Field on March 8 against a heavily rotated LAFC side. Since mid-April, Seattle has gone 4-0-1 while scoring 12 goals and conceding just three.
The Sounders’ latest victory came Saturday in Houston, where they overpowered a Dynamo side that played with 10 men for the match’s final 52 minutes. In that 3-1 win former LAFC forward Danny Musovski tied a Sounders record by scoring a goal in his fifth consecutive appearance. Midfielder Albert Rusnák earned Team of the Matchday honors by tallying his fifth and sixth goals of the season, tying him with Musovski for first on the team across all competitions.
BACK TO FRONT
The Sounders’ defense has been stout, as usual. Only two teams in the West have conceded fewer goals this year, and goalkeeper Stefan Frei, who recently made his 400th appearance for the club (just the seventh player in league history to hit that mark with one organization) is a big reason why.
Musovski has filled in admirably for veteran goal scorers Jordan Morris and Paul Arriola, who have missed significant time this year due to injury. (Arriola is out for the season with a torn left ACL.) In late March the Sounders added 28-year-old English winger Ryan Kent, who made his first start last weekend in Houston and collected his third assist of 2025. (Kent played with LAFC winger Cengiz Ünder at Fenerbahçe in 2023.)
BLACK AND GOALED
LAFC has had 10 different goal scorers in 2025. Number one on that list is forward Denis Bouanga, who has recorded seven goal contributions during LAFC’s current five-game unbeaten run (five goals, two assists), including a converted penalty in Sunday’s 2-2 draw with first-place Vancouver.
Bouanga has scored five career goals against the Sounders, including four in their last five meetings.
LAFC CAN WIN IF
It cashes in on set pieces. Seattle leads all MLS teams in xGA (expected goals allowed, a reliable indicator of defensive quality) but has shown vulnerability when defending free kicks and corner kicks, conceding three goals in such situations. As always, scoring first holds great value for LAFC, as it would draw the Sounders forward and potentially expose them to Bouanga-led counterattacks.
VANCOUVER CAN WIN IF
They keep the game close and make it ugly. Last year Seattle was masterful at frustrating opponents with fundamentally sound team defending. That M.O. is taking shape again this year, even though 2024 MLS Defender of the Year finalist Jackson Ragen has missed the last month due to injury. Thirty-five-year-old centerback Kee-hee Kim has stepped in for Ragen without much drop-off.
