CARSON, Calif. -- Statistics don't always matter for much, but some numbers are more important than others. And most of them add up nicely for the LA Galaxy heading into the first of a season-ending home-and-home set with the Seattle Sounders to determine the Supporters' Shield winner.
The Galaxy, who welcome the Sounders to StubHub Center on Sunday, have dominated the series. They're 9-4-4 in MLS encounters (including playoffs), with winning records in Southern California (5-1-2, with a 14-4 goal count) and Seattle (4-3-2), and have won every meaningful showdown, two US Open Cup meetings aside.
They've been the better team the last half of the season (13-3-4 since the World Cup break, to Seattle's 9-7-1) and absolutely dominated the Sounders in a 3-0 victory in July at CenturyLink Field.
LA's only loss to the Sounders in Los Angeles was back in 2009, after David Beckham was sent off in the 17th minute.
Right now, the Galaxy and Sounders are tied on 60 points, but the Galaxy are behind on the total-wins tiebreaker. So they need four points from the last two games to claim the Shield and Western Conference title, and history says they'll grab three of those on Sunday.
“I'm not really looking into that: The past is the past,” center back Omar Gonzalez said this week. “It's about what you do now. That's maybe in their mind, the historical part, but if we don't approach the game in the right manner, Seattle can beat us easily.
“They have the players to do it. They have talented players, they have good coaches, they're good tactically. We need to show up in the right manner, with the right enthusiasm, working hard for each other, and when we do that, it's very tough for teams to beat us, no matter who it is.”
The victory in July still resonates for the LA players, who see some frailties in Seattle that it can take advantage of.
“We know that they're going to look different than they did that day in Seattle,” said Landon Donovan. “For whatever reason, they were not at their best and we played very well. We expect that they're going to be at their best this weekend, and when they play at their best, it's going to take our best effort to beat them, and we know that. …
“We certainly feel like, after the last game, that we can exploit some weaknesses, that we have a good understanding of their team, and we'll make sure to make that's known to everybody again and try to exploit it.”
Weaknesses aside, the Sounders also have plenty of strengths. For example, their explosive attack: Led by Clint Dempsey (14G, 9A) and Obafemi Martins (17G, 10A), the Sounders have scored the most goals on the road (32) and the second most goals overall (61).
“There aren't many teams in our league that consistently wreak havoc the way they do,” Donovan said. “The way Clint and Oba play, sometimes, it's almost like they're playing against cones. They're just passing the ball back and forth, running straight through the middle of the field and creating chances. They're both direct, they're both dynamic, they both move well, they see each other well, and then they've got a handful of other complementary players that have played well this year. … [The Sounders] are very dangerous all over the field, they're good on set pieces, they pose a lot of problems for teams.”
In other words, said midfielder Marcelo Sarvas, “It's a very good team that can be champion, like us.”
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The Galaxy do have a leg up on their rivals beyond just the historal records. For one, they have scored the most goals this season (67) and have the best defensive record in the league (33 goals conceded). So in the end do they have the advantage?
“I don't know. It's really tough,” left back Robbie Rogers said. “It's two great teams and two coaches that are very experienced, and you can compare our attacking guys to their attacking guys in some ways, and, obviously, we're very different [teams]. We'll see at the end of these games.”
