Wicky excited to see Sporting KC's confidence build

Raphael Wicky is hopeful that Sporting Kansas City's recent wins will continue to help build their confidence ahead of a visit to the Seattle Sounders in MLS.

Sporting have won two of their last three league games (L1), including a 2-0 victory over high-flying Houston Dynamo last time out.

That was their first clean sheet of the 2026 season, though they remain bottom of the Western Conference with 21 points, 14 behind the ninth-place Sounders, who occupy the final playoff spot with eight games left to play.

While Wicky had hoped for more goals against the Dynamo, he was thrilled to see another battling display, which he wants to carry forward.

"We had a chance to make it 3-0, and I think then it would be even harder for Houston to stay in the game," Wicky said after that result.

"We didn't, and 2-0 is always a tough result. I'm very pleased with what I saw, and I hope this gives the team confidence.

"I think over the last weeks, or even since the World Cup break, besides maybe two games, we've shown that we're competitive with most teams, so I'm happy with that."

Seattle were on a torrid run just a few weeks ago, having gone 13 games without a victory in MLS, but they have now won their last two games.

After beating Real Salt Lake, they followed it up with a 3-1 win over Minnesota United to move into the playoff places for the first time in months, but Brian Schmetzer believes the Sounders still have work to do to keep their revival going.

"Our structure, where we have a little bit of rotation between positions, is okay," he said, as quoted by Sounder at Heart.

"But the player who rotates into a different position has to understand the rules and responsibilities of where he's playing.

"You need to still be exciting, entertain the fans, do all that sort of stuff. I'm not trying to stifle any sort of creative moments.

"But we have to win games and make sure that we make a 2-0 lead, a 3-0 lead, and then we can kind of spitball and do what they want and have a little more joy."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Seattle Sounders – Albert Rusnak

Albert Rusnak assisted two of Seattle's three goals against Minnesota United, taking him to 12 assists on the season.

He has 38 assists over the last three seasons, the third-most in MLS in that time behind only Lionel Messi (49) and Evander (46).

Sporting Kansas City – Andre Luiz

Andre Luiz was directly involved in both goals in Sporting KC's win at Houston, scoring once and assisting once.

He is the first player to record a goal and an assist in a regular-season away match for Sporting since current Sounders player Dejan Joveljic against the LA Galaxy on March 14.

MATCH PREDICTION: SEATTLE SOUNDERS WIN

Seattle are unbeaten in four straight matches against Sporting KC (W3 D1), including a 1-1 draw in Kansas City on May 2.

The Sounders managed to avoid defeat only three times in their previous 10 against Sporting (W3 L7) dating back to 2019.

After a 13-match regular-season winless run, Seattle have recorded back-to-back victories with wins over Real Salt Lake and Minnesota. The Sounders, who drew the final five matches of that winless run, are now unbeaten in seven straight matches, the fourth-longest active streak in MLS.

As for Sporting KC, they won their third away match of the season on Saturday, a 2-0 victory at Houston.

Sporting last won two straight away from home in league play over five years ago, a three-match winning streak in July and August 2021 that included a victory in Seattle.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Seattle Sounders – 62.7%

Draw – 19.8%

Sporting Kansas City – 17.5%