The final El Trafico of the 2024 Major League Soccer (MLS) campaign may determine who finishes first in the Western Conference as the Los Angeles Galaxy host Los Angeles FC at Dignity Health Sports Park on Saturday.
Right now, the Galaxy are four points above LAFC for first in the West despite losing their previous encounter versus St Louis City, 2-1, while the Black and Gold played to a 0-0 draw with the Houston Dynamo last weekend.
Match preview
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A single point on Saturday would be enough for the Galaxy to book their place in the MLS Cup playoffs for a second time in three years.
Since the Leagues Cup concluded, this team have one win and a loss, having claimed 15 victories in MLS this season, the most for them in a single campaign since 2019 (16).
Greg Vanney's men have won their last eight MLS encounters played at Dignity Health Sports Park and have never lost a domestic contest in Carson this season.
Their attack has carried them to victory throughout the domestic campaign, scoring the joint-second-most goals in the league thus far (53).
Defensively, however, there are still plenty of questions surrounding this group, conceding multiple goals in half of their domestic contests thus far (14/28).
The Galaxy have lost two of their previous four home games against LAFC and have not beaten them at Dignity Health Sports Park since the 2022 US Open Cup (3-1).
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We are into the final stretch of the regular season, and Los Angeles FC are in a position to finish first in their conference for a second time in three domestic campaigns.
With two games in hand on the Galaxy, Steve Cherundolo's men have their destiny in their hands and can officially clinch a playoff berth with a win along with a defeat or draw by Dallas.
Since going winless in their first five away games of the regular season, the Black and Gold have not lost a match as the visitors in this competition.
On Saturday, they have a chance to surpass their win total from the previous regular season (14), and if they can emerge victorious from their final eight matches of this competition, LAFC would set a new club record for the most wins in a single regular-season, surpassing the old mark set in 2023 and 2019 (21).
This team have failed to find the back of the net on consecutive occasions and are in danger of being held goalless in consecutive MLS home fixtures for the first time since June 2023 (two).
The Black and Gold have won their previous three domestic meetings with the Galaxy and can sweep the season series against them this weekend for the first time.
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Team News
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Heading into this encounter, the Galaxy may not have Carlos Garces available due to a calf injury, while Julian Aude could be sidelined once again because of a groin strain.
Vanney will be missing Joseph Paintsil, who must serve a yellow card suspension, while Riqui Puig is eligible to return from his own ban on Saturday.
Gabriel Pec had the only Galaxy goal in a losing effort against St Louis City, his 11th of the season, putting him one behind Dejan Joveljic for first on the team.
LAFC may be without Jesus Murillo and Lorenzo Dellavalle for this upcoming fixture, as they are both recovering from knee injuries.
They had a handful of players away last weekend for the international break, including leading goalscorer Denis Bouanga (Gabon), Maxime Chanot (Luxembourg), Mateusz Bogusz (Poland), Cristian Olivera (Uruguay), Omar Campos (Mexico) and David Martinez (Venezuela).
Hugo Lloris stopped three shots against the Dynamo last weekend to claim his first MLS clean sheet since July 20 (3-0 win over the Seattle Sounders).
Los Angeles Galaxy possible starting lineup:
McCarthy; Yamane, Yoshida, Neal, Nelson; Delgado, Brugman; Pec, Reus, Puig; Joveljic
Los Angeles FC possible starting lineup:
Lloris; Long, Chanot, Segura; Hollingshead, Sanchez, O'Brien, Tillman; Bogusz, Giroud, Bouanga
We say: Los Angeles Galaxy 1-2 Los Angeles FC
This edition of LAFC know how to handle the stretch run of a long season, and we trust their defensive shape a lot more than the Galaxy's, which remains a big flaw that has held them back.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
