Second place in the Western Conference will be on the line on Sunday as the Los Angeles Galaxy play host to Sporting Kansas City at Dignity Health Tennis Center.
Both teams are riding two-game winning streaks heading into this fixture, with the Galaxy beating the San Jose Earthquakes 3-1 last weekend, while KC got an 87th-minute winner to edge Los Angeles FC 2-1.
Match preview
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With seven wins from their opening 10 fixtures, the LA Galaxy have seen a significant resurgence under Greg Vanney.
This team have played eight straight games versus Western Conference opponents, and they have handled everything quite well, winning six of those matches, losing twice to the Supporters' Shield leaders, the Seattle Sounders.
Those victories could pay huge dividends as the season wears on, given that those results have catapulted LA into third place in the west, just four points behind the Sounders for the best record in MLS.
When this team plays, we can expect to see plenty of goals, with most of them coming from their prolific striker Chicharito, as the Mexican has 10 of the 17 goals his team have scored this season.
It is difficult to say how well off they would be without him, but they are still a talented squad, who have only gone goalless in two matches all season, and they have yet to be shut out at home.
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If there is a striker who can rival Chicharito, it could be Daniel Salloi, who has seven goals on the season and has been clinical in the final third.
KC have many attacking threats of their own as Peter Vermes has moulded this team into a strong unit, who fight as hard as any side out there and are fantastic both on and off the ball.
The Wizards are currently on pace for a 65-point regular season, which would eclipse the club record of 63 set back in 2012.
They are a team full of creativity and flair as they lead the league in big chances (32), shots per game (17.2) and chances per game (12.2).
KC are also a patient team who have shown incredible resilience, earning 16 points and five wins from losing positions, the most in MLS, with no other side earning more than seven points when trailing.
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Team News
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Chicharito has three goals in his last two games and was named the MLS Player of the Week for week 10, but he has not scored in his previous two home fixtures for the Galaxy.
Goalkeeper Jonathan Bond has two clean sheets for the year, both of which came at Dignity Health Tennis Center, while Sebastian Lletget leads the team in assists with two and also has a goal so far this season.
Despite starting in only three matches, midfielder Sacha Kljestan has two goals to go along with two assists.
KC are the only MLS team to have two players with at least six goals, with Alan Pulido notching six, while Daniel Salloi has seven.
Midfielder Gianluca Busio leads the league in starts (12), minutes played (1,062) and pressures (315), while defender Andreu Fontas has made a significant impact in the build-up play for his team, leading MLS in passes (960), passes completed (863) and touches (1,088).
Forward Johnny Russell is tied with Salloi for most goals versus the Galaxy, with two in regular season play.
Los Angeles Galaxy possible starting lineup:
Bond; Villafana, DePuy, Gonzalez, Araujo; Cabral, Vazquez, Dos Santos, Kljestan; Chicharito, Alvarez
Sporting Kansas City possible starting lineup:
Melia; Lindsey, llie, Fontas, Martins; Espinoza, Busio, Hernandez, Shelton, Pulido, Salloi
We say: Los Angeles Galaxy 3-3 Sporting Kansas City
These are two offensively talented teams who can score goals in bunches, with the Wizards getting a nice balance of production while the Galaxy rely heavily on Chicharito, who seems to be getting better every game, which is a frightening thought for opposing teams.
All of the KC losses this year have come away from home, but they have fared well in Los Angeles, winning two of their last three fixtures there, and they will be eager to erase the memory of the 7-2 defeat which they suffered against LA in their previous meeting in 2019.
Top tip
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 Sporting Kansas City win with a probability of 44.51%. A win for Los Angeles Galaxy had a probability of 30.96% and a draw had a probability of 24.5%.
The most likely scoreline for a Sporting Kansas City win was 1-2 with a probability of 9.16%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (8.9%) and 0-2 (7.1%). The likeliest Los Angeles Galaxy win was 2-1 (7.42%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.49%). The actual scoreline of 0-2 was predicted with a 7.1% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Sporting Kansas City would win this match.
