The three Major League Soccer teams at the bottom of the points table are the Chicago Fire, Colorado Rapids and Montreal Impact.
Those also just happen to be the next three opponents for the Seattle Sounders.
Naturally, the Sounders say they take none of those games for granted, starting with their 5:30 p.m. Saturday match at Chicago.
“Chicago’s a good team in the sense that they’ve had a lot of injuries and naturally for us they all get healthy,” Seattle coach Sigi Schmid said. “So (Mike) Magee’s healthy now and (Patrick) Nyarko’s healthy. I don’t know if (David) Accam’s going to be back for them in time. … Certainly up front with the addition of Magee and Nyarko they become a better team.”
The Sounders continue to have roster issues of their own spread across every portion of the pitch. At forward, Clint Dempsey is out due to U.S. national team duty and Obafemi Martins is out due to injury. At midfield, Marco Pappa is away with the Guatemala national team. At central defense, Brad Evans is with the U.S. national team. And for the first time this season, goalkeeper Stefan Frei is expected to miss a start due to a shoulder injury suffered last week against D.C. United.
Schmid never quite ruled Frei out for Chicago, but indications point to veteran reserve Troy Perkins, who preserved the shutout through the second half against D.C.
“Troy is a pretty good goalkeeper,” Seattle defensive midfielder Osvaldo Alonso said. “He’s been in the league a lot of years, so I think it’s going to be good for us that we got him. Now we’ve got to play the same to keep winning three points.”
Perkins said he is ready, and that he feels no additional pressure to be perfect due to the absences of Dempsey and Martins — Seattle’s co-leaders with seven goals each.
“I’ve learned early (not to) start doing things that are out of your hands or out of your control,” Perkins said.
“I don’t score goals, it’s not my job. You just worry about what you have to do, and that’s all you can do. Chad Barrett might show up and score three goals; but you do what you do and just keep guys focused and calm.”
Last week, Barrett and Lamar Neagle started at forward, but it was left back Tyrone Mears who blasted in the winner two minutes from the end of regulation. That strike — which on Friday was voted MLS goal of the week — ended a three-game losing streak, restored the Sounders to the top of the Western Conference and added a jolt of confidence before heading to the Midwest.
“You can see it takes a lot of pressure off of a lot of guys,” Perkins said. “Their chests are out a little bit more this week, and their heads are up. … You always want momentum, but it’s game by game. You can’t worry about the past, you can’t worry about the future: It’s minute by minute. And Chicago’s a dangerous team. They’ve got some guys coming back from injury, and they’re also scrapping for points, so it’s going to be a fight.”
The Fire are at the bottom of the MLS standings and have managed a league-low 18 goals. They are the only team in the league averaging less than a goal per game. Their minus-six goal differential is second worst in MLS. And they are the only team in the league since Seattle’s expansion 2009 season that has never beaten the Sounders.
“We lost a couple of players to the national team, but we’ve got enough players to fill that spot,” Alonso said. “Saturday night we go there to Chicago and prove our game. It doesn’t matter who’s playing, the three points is more important.”
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