Seattle's artificial pitch should see plenty of excitement

MLS
Sky Sports 2, 11pm

Seattle Sounders haven’t stemmed the hangover from their MLS Cup triumph.

Two lacklustre efforts against Houston and Montreal have yielded just one point and they must bounce back at home to a Red Bulls side who are starting to click into gear.

Sounders will seek a first win of the season without Roman Torres, who was influential at the heart of their defence last term. This could spell trouble for the home side, with Bradley Wright-Phillips and Sacha Kljestan in town, but a new signing for New York may cause his own problems.

Derrick Etienne showed pace and trickery alongside Wright-Phillips in the 1-0 win against Colorado last week and if he uses a more direct approach at CenturyLink Field he could grab a goal.

The Red Bulls are going to have to cope without Dax McCarty after he was traded to Chicago Fire in the off-season. They may struggle to fill the void in midfield and the Sounders can exploit that.

Seattle should have plenty of opportunities on the artificial pitch where they have won nine of their last 11 games, including the playoffs. However, the best bet may be an entertaining game with plenty of goals.

New York are unbeaten in eight successive away games which is an MLS record. This will be the only match between the sides in the regular season but it is an important fixture, with Seattle needing to gain confidence and New York wanting to keep their 100 per cent record intact.

Recommendations
D Etienne first goalscorer
0.5pt each-way 9-1 Paddy Power
Over 3.5 goals
1pt 9-4 general