The history between the two teams has added a lot of atmosphere to the final. While the two franchises may not be natural rivals, Sounders manager Schmetzer has said that there\u2019s no doubt that matches with Toronto carry added intensity, given the history between the two sides.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the rivalry is strong,\u201d Schmetzer told Q13 Fox in Seattle. \u201cI mean, look, it\u2019s not Seattle and Portland. You know, that\u2019s just the way our league is set up. But if you had to choose a rival for us to play at home, MLS Cup match, why not Toronto? Why not?\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\nHeading into the playoffs, neither Seattle nor Toronto was favored to get this far, and both had to go on the road as underdogs in their respective conference finals.<\/p>\n
Road Upsets Pave Way for Old Foes<\/strong><\/h2>\nSeattle pulled off the more shocking upset, going to Los Angeles and beating LAFC 3-1 to knock off the overwhelming MLS Cup favorites. LAFC had put up a league-record 72 points in the regular season, 16 ahead of the Sounders, who finished second in the Western Conference.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Toronto \u2013 the No. 4 seed in the East \u2013 had to travel to take on defending MLS Cup champion Atlanta United in one of the toughest road environments in the league. But even falling behind by a goal early and being outplayed for the vast majority of the match wasn\u2019t enough for Atlanta, which fell 2-1 to the Canadian side.<\/p>\n
But while these may not be the two best teams in the league this year, their recent pedigree has helped both franchises develop traits that helped them get back to this point one more time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 2017 [MLS Cup final] was truly about excellence,\u201d Toronto FC manager Greg Vanney told The Athletic<\/em>. \u201cAnd this one is going to be about grit, determination, and scrappiness.\u201d<\/p>\nThere\u2019s still one unanswered question hanging over the match that could impact the odds before kickoff.<\/p>\n
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Toronto forward Jozy Altidore has been out with a strained quad since the end of the regular season, and earlier this week, he gave reporters a grim assessment of his chances of playing in the final.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\u201cAt this point, it\u2019ll take a bit of a miracle to be out there on Sunday, Altidore told reporters. \u201cBut that\u2019s where I\u2019m at and I\u2019ve just got to try to keep trying to get myself there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Seattle has still been preparing as though Altidore will play, however. And by Thursday, Vanney was willing to give his star striker a better chance of play \u2013 though only slightly.<\/p>\n
\u201c[He\u2019s upgraded] from \u2018he needs a miracle\u2019 to \u2018a small miracle,\u2019\u201d Vanney told reporters. \u201cBut we\u2019ll see.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Seattle Sounders are hoping to translate home field advantage into another Major League Soccer title on Sunday when they host Toronto FC in the MLS Cup final. Seattle is a -225 favorite to lift the trophy over Toronto (+160), according to DraftKings Sportsbook, in what will be the third MLS Cup final meeting between […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":119326,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,1074],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Seattle Sounders Favored Over Toronto FC in MLS Cup Final<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n