Gotham FC vs Seattle Reign FC preview: Step one on the road to repeating

NJ/NY Gotham FC will play a home playoff game for just the second time in club history as they welcome Seattle Reign FC to New Jersey for a quarterfinal matchup. The NJ/NY side's previous home playoff match was a 2024 quarterfinal, where they defeated Portland Thorns FC 2-1.

Gotham FC will head into the game as heavy favorites. Not just because they enter the fixture as the number one seed and Seattle as the number eight, but because the Bats are currently on an eight-game unbeaten run against Seattle in all competitions, with six wins and two draws. This includes the 2023 NWSL Championship as well as a sweep of both matches played in 2026.

The Reign will enter the playoffs with the underdog moniker. In some ways, that takes the pressure off the lower-seeded team because the level of expectation is much lower. They will be without a key player, as Maddie Dahlien tore her ACL in the USWNT U-23 camp a few weeks ago. This should help the Bats in the match.

Meanwhile, since Juan Carlos Amorós took over as head coach prior to the 2023 season, his record in knockout competitions has been stellar with Gotham. Between the NWSL Playoffs, NWSL Challenge Cup, CONCACAF W Champions Cup, FIFA Champions Cup, and the NWSL Summer Cup, Amorós has a 12-6 record, with 11 of those victories coming away from home or at a neutral location. Gotham FC's style of play lends itself to knockout-style soccer. They are well-structured defensively and want to have as much of the ball as possible. Here is a preview of Sunday's playoff match.

The game will take place on Sunday, November 8.

The fixture is scheduled to begin at 12:30 PM ET.

The match will be played at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, New Jersey.

The game will be broadcast on ABC and streamed on ESPN Unlimited.

A warm but windy November day looks to be in store for this playoff opener. It will be around 60 degrees for the duration of the match, with winds around 13 mph. Gusts can reach as high as 23 mph. The sun will be out with cloud cover being at a minimum while humidity will hover around 45-50%. There is a 0% chance of rain.

The final game of the regular season will see the following players unavailable: Bruninha (knee - SEI), Jordynn Dudley (foot - SEI), Kayla Duran (knee - SEI), and Emily Sonnett (knee- SEI).

Tess Boade (hamstring), Jaelin Howell (ankle), Rose Lavelle (neck), and Jaedyn Shaw (knee) are all questionable.

Since coming over from Chelsea midseason, the big picture numbers for Sam Kerr have been somewhat disappointing. She has only four goals and four assists in 17 matches, with no goals in her last four games. That being said, though, she ranks first on the team in xG at 9.7, which suggests she's getting herself in the right spots; she just isn't managing to find the back of the net. She obviously didn't forget how to score when she crossed the Atlantic, and it seems like it'll be a matter of time before the goals start falling for her. Hence, she is one to watch

Fans should also watch Seattle's Maddie Mercado. She led the team in goals with 10, becoming the Reign's first double-digit goal scorer since Megan Rapinoe scored 12 in 2017. Seattle is the lowest-scoring team in the playoffs and will need Mercado to be in top form.

The two playoff matches have both ended 1-0 so far, and that looks to be the most likely outcome in this one as well, with Gotham FC coming out on top. Kerr will be the lone goalscorer as the Bats will earn just their second-ever playoff victory at home.