Separated by just three points, Los Angeles Galaxy and Austin FC go head-to-head at the Dignity Health Sports Park on Saturday.
The teams were level on points before the last gameweek where the hosts notched up a third win of the season, while the visitors were left empty-handed for the second time this term.
Match preview
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Los Angeles Galaxy triumphed over Los Angeles FC in the LA derby on Sunday, which ended 2-1 in favour of the former.
Diego Rossi cancelled out Javier Hernandez's first-half opener two minutes past the hour mark, before Jonathan dos Santos struck as the game entered into the last 10 minutes to give his side the bragging rights.
Greg Vanney's men are third in the MLS as things stand, three points off the top of the table with a game in hand.
Next up for The Galaxy is a first-ever meeting against American football's newest club side who are playing in their first top-flight season.
Saturday's hosts will be looking to follow in the footsteps of their city rivals and claim a win over their next opponents.
Austin FC were unsuccessful in their quest to claim a third successive win as they were beaten 2-1 by Sporting Kansas City.
Josh Wolff's men took the lead in the opening period through Jon Gallagher, but they conceded twice in the final 10 minutes to Ilie Sanchez and Gadi Kinda.
Nonetheless, Los Verdes are currently in mid-table four games into their debut campaign, and they are showing no signs of being fazed.
Saturday's visitors would move into the top four if they come out on top in this one, so there is clearly enough motivation for them.
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Team News
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Austin FC's Alexander Ring is suspended for the game following his sending-off in the defeat to Sporting Kansas last time out.
Ulises Segura has been out since September with a knee problem, and he is not expected to feature for the away side in this one.
Aaron Schoenfeld still awaits his first appearance of the season as he is currently sidelined with an ankle injury.
Javier Hernandez's six goals in four games for LA Galaxy so far is the most of any player in the entire division.
The Mexican has been directly involved in all but one of his side's eight goals this term, making him their most influential player by some distance.
Los Angeles Galaxy possible starting lineup:
Bond; Villafana, Williams, Steres, Araujo; Dos Santos, Saldana, Zubak; Lletget, Grandsir, Hernandez
Austin FC possible starting lineup:
Stuver; Kolmanic, Besler, Romana, Lima; Fagundez, Pochettino, Gil; Dominguez, Stroud, Berhalter
We say: Los Angeles Galaxy 3-1 Austin FC
The Galaxy will fancy themselves to capitalize on a relatively inexperienced Austin FC side in this one. We are tipping the hosts to come out victorious and secure all three points in a convincing manner.
Adepoju Marvellous
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Los Angeles Galaxy win with a probability of 60.19%. A draw had a probability of 20.1% and a win for Austin FC had a probability of 19.72%.
The most likely scoreline for a Los Angeles Galaxy win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.75%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (8.29%) and 1-0 (7.61%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (8.95%), while for an Austin FC win it was 1-2 (5.26%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with an 8.3% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Los Angeles Galaxy would win this match.
