This is going to be wonderfully entertaining: Seattle and Los Angeles enter the final two weeks of matches in a two game, home-and-home free-for-all that will decide the Supporters Shield.
And while it could be slightly juicier if it were more even -- Seattle has the edge in total wins, the first tiebreaker, and could clinch the thing in match No. 33 -- it’s still going to be fantastic stuff.
Zero points divide the two clubs, which will meet in California on Sunday at 830pm ET and in Washington on October 25 at 230pm ET on NBC and NBC Sports Live Extra.
History is in the making regardless of which club wins the award; Seattle has never won the MLS Supporters Shield, while Los Angeles would become the first team to hold the shield five times. It’s also the Sounders next step towards the treble, having already won the 2014 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
Who holds the advantage in this competition? Well, both teams lost this weekend playing shorthanded -- Seattle without DeAndre Yedlin and L.A. without Robbie Keane -- but the Galaxy have certainly been in better form overall. Yet Seattle simply needs to match L.A.'s point total; A win in either game will do the trick. Two ties as well.
The Galaxy did emphatically win the only match the two sides have played so far and it was at Century Link Field (highlights below):
Pick your favorite excitable adjective: this is going to be a two-week span that Major League Soccer can cherish. Landon Donovan looking for a Supporters Shield in his final season with Robbie Keane and Gyasi Zardes at his side. Clint Dempsey and Obafemi Martins looking to give Sigi Schmid his third Supporters Shield. American backs DeAndre Yedlin and Omar Gonzalez across the field from one another.
Oooooh, is it Sunday yet?