MLS PREVIEW 29 Aug 2026: Dejan Joveljic debuts for a Seattle side nine games without a win, and Messi is fit

Seattle Sounders against Chicago Fire opens the card at Lumen Field, and Seattle have spent the week doing something about a nine-match winless league run. Dejan Joveljic arrived from Sporting Kansas City on Tuesday as a Designated Player, with 47 MLS goals since the start of 2024, and Brian Schmetzer confirmed he will feature: "Whenever you sign a big player, I think there's a lot of excitement. Training today was good. There's a little bit better buzz; energy was good, so that'll help us as well." Joveljic's own summary was shorter: "I'm here to bring goals and to help win the games. I can score with left, right, head — it doesn't matter." Seattle's last outing was a 1-1 draw at FC Cincinnati through Kalani Kossa-Rienzi, their first league point since mid-May. Chicago arrive with ten points from their last four and a clean bill of health.

The Washington fixture is the one with a playoff clock on it. D.C. United host Los Angeles FC having lost 3-1 at Charlotte FC after leading in the second half, a second straight defeat in which they were outscored 6-1, and with their leading scorer Tai Baribo questionable. Rene Weiler was blunt — "Two bad games. It's tough because we played a really good 60 minutes in Charlotte" — and Lucas Bartlett was blunter: "We're not closing out games. We gotta be clinical. We have to finish chances." LAFC come without Timmy Tillman, Jacob Shaffelburg, David Martinez and the reserve goalkeeper Thomas Hasal, into the first of five road games in six, and Marc Dos Santos has set the arithmetic out for his squad: "We know that in this league if you want to finish minimum in the top four in your conference you need around 15 wins. I told the guys we have 10 now." The match also returns Nathan Ordaz to the club that traded him to D.C. six weeks ago.

Inter Miami host CF Montreal with Lionel Messi available, having scored in the previous league match, and with Luis Suarez on eight goals in his last twelve MLS appearances; Miami are answering a 2-1 home defeat by Toronto FC on 23 August. Toronto themselves host New York City FC at BMO Field on the back of that win and seven points from nine, though Niklas Dorsch is out after surgery on a facial fracture and Deandre Kerr has a lower-body injury. Pascal Jansen brings an NYCFC side missing eight players — Alonso Martinez, Aiden O'Neill, Kai Trewin, Maxi Moralez, Arnau Farnos, Drew Baiera, Hannes Wolf and Talles Magno — and having taken two points from the last twelve. "We're going to have to play on their turf now and make sure that we do better than we did in Game 1," Jansen said.

The other two are the tightest. New York Red Bulls against Philadelphia Union puts a side that has won once in six against one unbeaten in six, and the youth on both sides is the story: Julian Hall leads the Red Bulls with nine goals and five assists, while Philadelphia's run has been driven by Cavan Sullivan and Neil Pierre with eight goal contributions between them. A.J. Marcucci is out for New York with a knee injury and Rafael Mosquera is a doubt; Philadelphia report no injuries but have Milan Iloski and Japhet Sery Larsen each a booking from suspension. Atlanta United against Charlotte FC completes the night, Atlanta chasing a fourth straight win for the first time since August 2021 after beating Sporting Kansas City 2-1 through Tomas Jacob and Fabrice Picault, and Dean Smith's Charlotte unbeaten in seven of their last eight.