The Seattle Sounders have made the playoffs every year they’ve been in MLS. They’ve won the Supporters’ Shield and US Open Cup. But they’ve never won the league’s biggest prize, MLS Cup. The same goes for Toronto FC, who have been the league’s biggest underachievers since they joined up. On Saturday, one of these teams will capture their first ever league championship.
Toronto FC vs. Seattle Sounders 2016: Time, live TV schedule for MLS Cup final
One of Toronto FC or Seattle Sounders will win their first ever MLS Cup on Saturday.
Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports
Toronto hosts MLS Cup final by virtue of having the better regular season record. Home-field advantage in the final a great way to reward regular season play, but it could result in a less than ideal match. As you may have heard, Canada is very cold in December. The weather won’t stop the fans from coming out, though — 36,000 supporters are going to fill BMO Field, and it’s going to be loud.
Seattle had a terrible first half of the season, resulting in them firing their only MLS-era head coach, Sigi Schmid. His assistant manager (and predecessor) Brian Schmetzer took over as interim coach, and he’s been given the big job full time after turning things around. He got some major help from mid-season signing Nicolas Lodeiro, who won MLS Newcomer of the Year despite only appearing in 13 games. Lodeiro has lived up to that award in the postseason, turning in some excellent performances during his team’s run to the final.
Toronto cruised through the first two rounds of the playoffs before running into a serious challenge in local rivals Montreal Impact. The two teams played arguably the best playoff series in MLS history, with the Reds coming out on top 7-5 on aggregate, following two extra time goals after the second leg ended tied.
Clint Dempsey is the only player missing for sure for the Sounders. He’s out with a heart condition. Osvaldo Alonso, Erik Friberg and Brad Evans are all carrying knocks, but are expected to make the 18-man squad. TFC has no reported injuries.
Match date/time: Saturday, 8 p.m. ET
Venue: BMO Field, Toronto, Canada
How to watch online: Fox Sports Go, Fox Soccer 2 Go (U.S. — English), Univision Deportes en vivo, Fubo, Sling (U.S. — Spanish), TSN Go (Canada).
TV: FOX (U.S. — English), UniMas (U.S. — Spanish), TSN (Canada — English), RDS (Canada — French)
Make friends: Hang out with Seattle Sounders blog Sounder at Heart and Toronto FC blog Waking the Red.
Three things
- Will Osvaldo Alonso’s injury affect him? — Seattle’s star central midfielder will play in MLS Cup as long as he can stand on two legs, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be his most effective. He has a sprained knee that he’ll be playing through, and it should be pretty clear early on if he has full mobility.
- Which Sebastian Giovinco shows up? — Giovinco was last year’s MVP and arguably robbed of being a finalist for this year’s award, but he hasn’t been at his best in the playoffs. It’s been Jozy Altidore, Michael Bradley and a cast of substitutes that have come up big when Toronto has needed goals, rather than the Italian. This is his chance to cement his status as the best player in MLS.
- It’s really cold. — Seattle’s players have played big games in crummy weather before. Toronto’s players will dislike the weather even though they’re used to it. There’s no reason to believe either team has a significant advantage. But it’s going to be about 20 degrees fahrenheit during the match, which is cold enough that it could affect the way the ball moves, and it’ll make tackles hurt more. Cup finals are rarely beautiful games, and this one seems especially likely to be ugly.
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