Brian Schmetzer is pleased with the grit and commitment his side have shown in recent matches, particularly following their comfortable 3-0 win over Nashville SC last weekend.

Seattle put up a ruthless attacking display at Lumen Field last Saturday, scoring three goals within 15 first-half minutes to stifle a strong Nashville side.

Danny Musovski opened the scoring in the 19th minute, while Pedro de la Vega and Paul Rothrock added goals in the 30th and 34th minutes, respectively, to seal a confident win for the Sounders.

The win over Nashville marked another positive result for Schmetzer's side, who had to dig deep to secure a 1-0 win over FC Dallas a week earlier.

Reflecting on their recent performances, Schmetzer hailed his side's grit and determination.

"I mean, how fun was that first half? I mean, it was pretty good. Well, actually, the first eight or nine minutes maybe weren't that good, but once we got our feet under us, I think we played well," Schmetzer said.

"And what I'll say is that the win in Dallas was an emotional win because we had to overcome a bunch of adversity.

"The players responded, we knew we were in a hole. We had to dig ourselves out. And it was a gutty, gritty win down in Dallas.

"And the objective for this game, the message to the group this training week, was to make sure that when the referee blew the whistle, we wanted to come out on the front foot.

"We wanted to come out and really outwork [Nashville], outsmart them, out-think them, and the reward for the guys that played in Dallas, I think they appreciated it."

Seattle currently sit eighth in the Western Conference, just a point outside the top seven, while the Colorado Rapids are fifth with 15 points alongside the Portland Timbers.

After their frenetic 3-2 win over San Diego FC earlier in April, Chris Armas' side were stalled for the third time this season as 14th-placed Houston Dynamo held them to a 2-2 draw last weekend.

Amine Bassi opened the scoring for Houston, though the Rapids got themselves ahead courtesy of goals from Djordje Mihailovic and Rafael Navarro.

Colorado then let their one-goal lead slip in the sixth minute of stoppage time, as Ondrej Lingr levelled the scores. To compound matters for Armas, goalkeeper Zack Steffen was sent off for dissent in the final minute after seeing his second yellow card of the night.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Colorado Rapids – Djordje Mihailovic

Mihailovic was involved in both Rapids goals in their 2-2 draw with Houston on Saturday, scoring the equaliser via a penalty and providing the assist for Navarro.

This marked the seventh time that Mihailovic recorded multiple goal contributions in a match since joining Colorado last year, more than twice as many as any other Rapids player during this time.

Seattle Sounders – Albert Rusnak

Albert Rusnak has scored seven regular-season goals against the Colorado Rapids, more than the Slovakia international has managed against any other opponent in his MLS career.

Rusnak has found the net in each of his last two away matches against the Rapids, and he has started the season brightly with two goals and three assists in his eight matches so far.

MATCH PREDICTION: SEATTLE SOUNDERS WIN

Only three points separate these two sides going into Saturday's clash, though Seattle emerge as slight favourites.

The Sounders have recorded 26 wins over Colorado in the regular season and playoffs since making their MLS debut in 2009 – more than any team against a single opponent in that time.

Schmetzer's side have also turned their season around recently, following up a run of five straight matches without a win in all competitions with back-to-back victories, marking their first set of consecutive wins since a three-match run beginning in September last year.

Colorado, though, have lost only two of their first nine matches of the season (W4 D3) for the second straight year. Only once have the Rapids had fewer losses after playing nine matches, when they went unbeaten across their first nine outings back in 1999.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Colorado Rapids – 34.5%

Draw – 25.9%

Seattle Sounders – 39.6%