Three keys to victory for Sounders in playoff matchup with Sporting KC

They made it. The Sounders qualified for the 2016 MLS Cup playoffs, and it was quite the miracle. But despite all the hard work it took to get here, that all goes out the window now. The slate is clean, and every game matters. And even though the latter stages of the competition are two-legged, the knockout round is just the one – whoever wins on Thursday goes to the conference semifinals. Whoever loses is completely done in 2016.

In terms of the different ways the knockout round could have set up for Seattle, a home game against Sporting Kansas City has to be one of, if not the most favorable. Other than the Sounders’ loss to league leaders FC Dallas, they’ve been in scorching form in recent weeks. Sporting KC hasn’t been horrible, by any means, but it has certainly been on the decline since a 3-0 win against Seattle in July. After all, the Sounders jumped KC in the standings on Decision Day, despite being all the way back in ninth place after the July loss.

It’s do-or-die for the Sounders in this one. There are no draws in the knockout stages, and away goals don’t yet matter. If the match is tied after 90 minutes, there will be two 15-minute periods of overtime. If it’s still tied after those two periods, the match goes to a penalty shootout.

Here are three keys to Sounders’ success for Thursday night’s game at CenturyLink Field, which will air at 7 on KIRO Radio 97.3 FM and FS1:

1. Breaking down KC’s defense is the only way: Even though Sporting KC doesn’t necessarily have the greatest defense on paper, most players and pundits will say that its defensive unit is one of the best and most intimidating in the MLS. It conceded the fewest shots by opposing teams in the league. This is in part due to its physical play and stingy defensive midfielders, who tend to tackle hard and often in midfield to break up counters by speedy opponents. In two matches against KC this season, the Sounders scored one and allowed five. During the 3-0 loss in July, the Sounders didn’t even register a single shot until the last few minutes. This is a different Sounders team, though, and Nicolas Lodeiro will be needed more than ever. Seattle’s Plan A is to use his creativity to slice open the defense with through balls and passes over the top to Jordan Morris. But if KC does what it does best and swarms Lodeiro in midfield, the Sounders will need to execute Plan B. As shown by the Sounders’ first goal against Real Salt Lake on Sunday, the team is fully capable of creating and finishing chances without Lodeiro even touching the ball. So when the other team sacrifices multiple players to cover the Uruguayan, the Sounders must take advantage of the spaces that open up.

2. Don’t concede set pieces: Sporting KC has the second-most goals from set pieces (not including penalties) in the league (most in the West) with a whopping 13. It has players that can take dangerous free kicks and whip in excellent corners; forward Dom Dwyer’s five goals from set pieces are tied for most goals in the league. Not only will the Sounders need to mark up on guys like Dwyer and Lawrence Olum on corners and deep free kicks, they’ll need to focus on not conceding them at all as much as possible. Seattle has been sloppy in this regard in recent weeks, with the free kick allowed against Dallas turning into the winning goal. Even though they have Roman Torres and Chad Marshall to deal with big guys in the box, KC can be tricky with its set plays. The Sounders are better off avoiding those situations entirely.

3. Alonso must win the battle against Feilhaber: A classic matchup between a great attacking midfielder and a great defensive midfielder could be the defining battle of this game. Osvaldo Alonso, who is having one of the best seasons of his career, is key to the Sounders’ brand of possession soccer under coach Brian Schmetzer. Benny Feilhaber is a key creative presence on a Sporting KC team that is often short on creativity. While the players around him tend to focus on defense and keeping things compact, Feilhaber comes up big with through balls and deep passes to Dwyer up top or Graham Zusi on the outside. Zusi relies on getting the ball from Feilhaber on the wing so that he can cross or cut inside. Cutting off Feilhaber also slices off most of what’s dangerous about Zusi. So if Alonso can keep Feilhaber busy and prevent him from doing what he does best, it will give his team more time and possession to methodically break down KC’s defense. What the Sounders absolutely can’t do with Feilhaber is to double-mark him with Cristian Roldan or a central defender. A player like Lodeiro occasionally requires that much attention; Feilhaber is good, but he’s not Lodeiro-good. Roldan needs to be able to sweep up around the top of the box when Alonso is busy and make late runs into the box when the attackers get the ball into a dangerous position.

Spenser Davis also covers the Sounders for Sounder at Heart.