SEATTLE ARE CUP FAVORITES

Forecasting Major League Soccer seasons before the first ball has even been kicked is a fool’s errand. In a league with salary-cap-enforced parity and a steady churn of player turnover, clubs dramatically ebb and flow from year to year. See: D.C. United, which finished bottom of the Eastern Conference in 2013 and first a season ago. But if the pundits are to believed, the Sounders are one of – if not the – leading contender to win the 2015 MLS Cup. In Sports Illustrated’s roundtable preview, two of the four experts (Brian Straus and Liviu Bird) tabbed Seattle as their preseason favorite. On an Men in Blazers preseason podcast with Roger Bennett, Alexi Lalas also named the Sounders as his MLS Cup champion. Among the other notable league previews, ESPNFC’s “MLS 20 Questions” preview is a slight to behold: Over at Top Drawer Soccer, Will Parchman and Travis Clark dig deep to provide a one-stop-shop breakdown of each team’s chances this season. Their “Bold Prediction” for Seattle? “The Sounders will finally conquer their previously held playoff issues and win their first ever MLS Cup despite not winning the Supporters Shield or the U.S. Open Cup. Consider it a trophy reverse of 2015.” Prost Amerika captures the optimistic spirit of March with its “3 Hopes and One Fear” series for each MLS team. For Seattle, the hopes are that the young guys step up, it’s role-player midfielders improve into something more and that the new CBA will free the Sounders up to splash some cash. The fear? That none of the three will come to fruition. MLSSoccer.com’s 2015 Season Guide is the most comprehensive of the bunch, laying out the complete list of transactions in and out of each team, plus a season prospectus and a projected opening-day lineup. And though they’re a bit hit or miss, the site’s city guides are also a great resource for anybody currently researching away road trips. And finally, per Bovada, the Sounders are second only to the defending champion L.A. Galaxy in odds to win the 2015 MLS Cup, a 5/1 shot to lift the trophy this December:

FIVE KEY MATCHES OF THIS SEASON

The Seattle Times

Seattle vs New England, Sunday, Fox Sports 1
It’s almost a shame that the only meeting between the potential Western and Eastern Conference front-runners is getting burned on opening night – and without a handful of high-profile injury casualties such as Jermaine Jones.
Seattle vs. Portland Timbers, April 26, on Fox Sports 1
The first Cascadia clash of the season – and the first of two Sounders-Timbers league matches at CenturyLink Field this year – is always a date to circle in bold.

Seattle at New York City FC, May 3, Fox Sports 1
The Sounders make their Yankee Stadium debut against an expansion club with big ambitions backed by the Yankees and English Premier League club Manchester City.

Seattle at L.A. Galaxy, Aug. 9, ESPN
The post-Landon Donovan Galaxy is likely to take a while to jell, making the August rematch far more of a must-see than the April meeting. Plus, this is likely to be Steven Gerrard’s first appearance against the Sounders.

Seattle vs. Real Salt Lake, Oct. 25, JOE TV
If you think last year’s Supporters’ Shield-deciding finale was tense, just imagine what it’ll be like if one of these teams needs a result to keep its lengthy playoff streak alive.