The second edition of El Trafico this season will feature a first-place showdown in the MLS Western Conference as the Los Angeles Galaxy battle Los Angeles FC at the Rose Bowl on Thursday.
Despite a 3-0 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes over the weekend, the Galaxy are still behind their cross-town rivals on goal difference, with LAFC beating the Colorado Rapids by that same score.
Match preview
© Reuters
Since the two-week international break in June, the Galaxy have flourished, currently riding a four-match winning run in this competition.
That is their longest winning streak in a single MLS regular season since 2020 (four), and they can equal their next longest mark from 2019 (five) with a triumph on Thursday.
One area they have improved on since the June international window is their defensive structure, collecting a clean sheet in three consecutive league fixtures, as many as they had before the break.
Greg Vanney's men are unbeaten as the home team in the 2024 regular season, winning their last four encounters played at Dignity Health Sports Park.
With 40 points in 21 domestic encounters, this team have accumulated four more points than they managed by the end of the previous regular season.
The Galaxy have won three of their previous four home contests against the Black and Gold in this competition, including a 2-1 victory last year.
© Reuters
Losing to their state rivals, the San Jose Earthquakes, at the beginning of May (3-1), may have finally woken a sleeping giant in LAFC.
Since that defeat Steve Cherundolo's men are unbeaten in their last nine MLS contests, dropping points in only one of those encounters (1-1 draw with Austin FC).
Los Angeles FC lost their opening three away matches in this competition but will enter this game on a four-match unbeaten run on the road, three of which were victories.
Last month, they dominated their opponents on the scoresheet, outscoring them by a combined margin of 14-3 in five domestic affairs.
Since the beginning of April, the Black and Gold have won every league fixture in which they had scored the opening goal.
On Thursday, LAFC can match their longest winning run across all competitions versus the Galaxy (three) and win three straight matches against them in the regular season for the first time.
Team News
© Reuters
On Saturday, the Galaxy were without Jonathan Perez because of a hamstring injury, and Gaston Brugman was unavailable due to knee discomfort.
Three changes were made to their starting 11 this past weekend, as Jalen Neal, Julian Aude and Mark Delgado came in for Martin Caceres, John Nelson, and Tucker Lepley.
Joseph Paintsil scored his sixth of the MLS campaign, Dejan Joveljic notched his team-leading 12th of the regular season and Mauricio Cuevas collected his first career goal in this competition.
Luis Muller missed the previous encounter for LAFC due to a hip injury, while Lorenzo Dellavalle will be sidelined for the remainder of the season with a torn ACL.
Uruguay are through to the last eight at the Copa America, which means Cristian Olivera will miss this upcoming match for the Black and Gold.
A hat-trick courtesy of Mateusz Bogusz was all LAFC would need to defeat the Rapids this past weekend, while Hugo Lloris collected his first clean sheet since June 1 (1-0 win over Dallas).
Los Angeles Galaxy possible starting lineup:
McCarthy; Yamane, Caceres, Yoshida, Aude; Delgado, Cerrillo; Pec, Puig, Paintsil; Joveljic
Los Angeles FC possible starting lineup:
Lloris; Palencia, Murillo, Chanot, Hollingshead; Duenas, Sanchez, Atuesta; Bogusz, Martinez, Bouanga
We say: Los Angeles Galaxy 2-2 Los Angeles FC
Traditionally, these encounters are full of tension and goals, and we expect the same on Thursday in front of what should be a huge crowd in Pasadena.
Defensive structure tends to be forgotten when these rivals take to the field, and we expect to see a plethora of scoring opportunities for each, though we do not believe either will do enough to earn three points.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
