The Sounders head into the final stretch of the season in fine position. Although they are coming off a 2-0 loss on the road to the Philadelphia Union, they beat the first-place Vancouver Whitecaps 3-0 at home earlier in teh week. That leaves the Sounders comfortably in fourth place and with a semi-reasonable hope of still grabbing a bye. But as long as they can win at least one of their final two homes, hosting a first-round playoff game seems like a solid bet.
If there’s a dark cloud hanging over the team right now, it’s injuries.