With a much more important game around the corner, CF Montréal have one more MLS affair to deal with before the Canadian Championship final on Wednesday.
While you of course want to put your best foot forward and win every match, the reality is that only one game has any importance to the Impact throughout the rest of 2026, and they should be putting all of their eggs into that basket.
That could be good news for a Seattle Sounders team looking to climb the table in the West as the MLS season enters its final five-game stretch.
This will be the first meeting between these two sides since an April 2024 meeting, where the Sounders won in dominant 5-0 fashion at Lumen Field.
How Montréal enter the match
Now bottom of the East by six points, the MLS campaign is all but finished for the Impact.
Mathematically, they're not eliminated from playoff contention yet, though that is likely to change on Saturday. A loss in Seattle confirms it, as does a draw with one of 10 different scenarios that involve other teams around the playoff line winning or putting up certain results. It's all too complex for this piece, anyway.
That being said, while they'd like to stay above Sporting Kansas City in the Wooden Spoon race, the Cup is far more important than finishing 29th vs. 30th in MLS.
A run of seven losses in their last eight league matches is what's officially sunk the season, and a tough 3-0 home loss to Atlanta Wednesday just dug the nail deeper into the coffin.
The match this upcoming Wednesday against Forge should rightfully be about the only thing on the mind of the entire club, as it's fair to say a long trip to Seattle is as much of a throwaway game as they come.
How Seattle enter the match
Injuries have absolutely ravaged Seattle's 2026 campaign, but better health as the calendar flipped to fall has started to change the Sounders' fortunes this season.
A 1-0 loss to Dallas in Texas on Wednesday snapped a four-match winning run and nine-game unbeaten streak as Seattle has climbed back into the playoff picture, and now sit eight points above 10th-placed Portland.
That being said, they'd like to keep climbing the table, and at a minimum stay in seventh so they don't have to deal with the 8 vs. 9 wild card game.
The addition of Serbian poacher Dejan Joveljić has helped the team find more goals, and the return to health from a number of key players such as Cristian Roldan, Albert Rusnák, Jackson Ragen, Yeimar Gómez, Jordan Morris and more have been key in getting a perennial contender back on track.
For now, it's about accumulating as many points as possible to put themselves in as the best seed they can to try and make another playoff run.
Availability
It's not immediately clear who's made the trip out West for Montréal, but it's fair to say anyone who missed Wednesday's game will not be heading to Seattle.
That would mean Brayan Ceballos and Prince Owusu should be out, while Bode Hidalgo is joined in the "out for the season" club by Thomas Gillier, who has undergone shoulder surgery.
Seattle still has a few players missing, with Pedro de la Vega, Nikola Petković and Paul Rothrock all expected to remain out through injury.
Projected XIs
It would be quite a surprise if any regular outfield Impact starters play a meaningful role in this one, while Seattle will likely keep a pretty strong lineup on the pitch.
CF Montréal (4-3-3): Sébastian Breza; Viktor Radojević, Efrain Morales, Brandan Craig, Dawid Bugaj; Fabian Herbers, Ivan Losenko, Olger Escobar; Noah Streit, Daniel Ríos, Hennadiy Synchuk
Seattle Sounders (4-2-3-1): Andrew Thomas; Nouhou Tolo, Jackson Ragen, Stuart Hawkins, Alex Roldan; Hassani Dotson, Cristian Roldan; Sebastian Gomez, Albert Rusnák, Jordan Morris; Dejan Joveljić
Game information and how to watch
📆 Saturday, October 17
⏰ 10:30 pm ET / 7:30 pm PT
📺 Apple TV / TSN / RDS
🧑⚖️ Fotis Bazakos
🏟 Lumen Field, Seattle, United States
