The Galaxy lead the West with 64 points and visit playoff-bound Houston Dynamo FC (9 pm ET | MLS Season Pass), while LAFC are just three points behind and take on already-eliminated San Jose Earthquakes (9 pm ET | MLS Season Pass).
On This Is MLS, Sacha Kljestan, Calen Carr, and Matt Doyle examined what it would take for both sides to get the much-coveted top seed Saturday night.
When asked how confident he was that the Galaxy would finish on top, Kljestan "put it at 60%." And while he expects them to get the job done, he emphasized LA need a winning mentality.
"I’m giving it to the LA Galaxy because of the way they played at Colorado a few weeks ago," he said. "That made me believe a little bit more. They went on the road, the way they played in the second half, on the counterattack very efficient...
"Galaxy has to enter this game knowing, and thinking, that LAFC is going to win five or six to zero against San Jose. So they know they have to go into this game with a winning mentality, at worst they get a draw."
Carr agreed with Kljestan, but warned getting a result may not be as straightforward as expected, suggesting Houston will be "well-rested" and "have circled this one."
The trio also discussed Galaxy's Decision Day history against the Dynamo as an area for concern.
"But it does come back to what are the Galaxy going to do against Houston," said Doyle. "And as you said Sacha, the Galaxy do not have a great Decision Day history against the Houston Dynamo. I think the teams have met five times on Decision Day and Houston’s won four of them."
Doyle cited the teams' matchup in 2018 as a prime example: "They hosted Houston on Decision Day, just needing a point, and they figured out a way to lose to the Houston Dynamo, who weren't a great team that year. I know it’s a largely different group, but there are some demons that they need to exorcise in this game."
Doyle eyed LAFC's turnaround in form and their matchup against San Jose as reason they could leap into the West's No. 1 seed.
“They’ve looked more like the version of themselves that they were during the first four or five months of the season…," Doyle said. "They’re playing San Jose at home and\] they are done with this season. So this is three points for LAFC and hopefully, they get [\[Olivier\] Giroud a couple of goals, get him cooking, heading into the playoffs."
“I’m still unconvinced that the Galaxy are that much better than the rest of this group," Doyle added. "Flip a coin between them and LAFC and I think it lands LAFC almost every time."
