The Seattle Sounders face Charlotte FC for the first-ever time on Sunday, which starts a stretch of five straight home games. Charlotte has surprised many observers by getting off to a reasonably strong start, currently sitting seventh in the Eastern Conference. But that’s based almost entirely on their home form, as they’re just 0-5-1 on the road. That doesn’t even include a loss to the New York Red Bulls in U.S. Open Cup play on Wednesday, a match in which they used what was effectively their first-choice starting XI.
To add to Charlotte’s concerns, they’ll be without Designated Player Karol u015awiderski, who is with the Poland national team.