LA Galaxy vs. Los Angeles Football Club | 2018 MLS Match Preview

Dylan Butler

LA Galaxy vs. LAFC
2018 MLS Regular Season — Week 26
StubHub Center — Carson
August 24 - 10:30 pm ET
WATCH: ESPN, ESPN Deportes, MLS LIVE on DAZN (Canada)

LAFC are seeking that elusive win over an LA Galaxy side decimated by injuries when the third edition of El Trafico kicks off Friday night at StubHub Center as part of Heineken Rivalry Week.

LAFC have won consecutive games, both by 2-0 scorelines, and sit third in the Western Conference, within striking distance of first-place FC Dallas, while the Galaxy are winless in their last four and are tied on points with sixth-place Portland.

In each of the first two meetings, the Galaxy have rallied late to secure a positive result, winning 4-3 at home with Zlatan Ibrahimovic scoring a brace off the bench on his debut, and then scoring twice in a four-minute span to pull out a 2-2 draw at Banc of California Stadium a month ago.

LA Galaxy

Down five starters, the Galaxy (10-9-7) were thumped by the Seattle Sounders, 5-0, Saturday afternoon at CenturyLink Field.

Without Romain Alessandrini, Giovani and Jonathan dos Santos, Ibrahimovic and Michael Ciani, the Galaxy fell behind 2-0 inside the opening 20 minutes and the deficit ballooned to four on an own goal by Servando Carrasco and a goal by Cristian Roldan nine minutes apart in the second half. Raul Ruidiaz put the finishing touches on the biggest margin of victory for the Sounders ever against the Galaxy.

“There’s not much you can say. It was an embarrassing game for us,” Sigi Schmid said. “We gifted them three goals. I thought the first three goals were gifts from us and even the last one was another gift. You just can’t do that against a good team and expect to get a result.”

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: D - Michael Ciani
International duty: None
Injury Report: OUT: M - Romain Alessandrini (knee injury), F - Giovani dos Santos (leg injury), M - Jonathan dos Santos (groin injury), D - Michael Ciani (hamstring injury)

Projected Starting XI
(3-4-1-2, right to left)
GK: David Bingham — Daniel Steres, Jorgen Skjelvik, Ashley Cole — Chris Pontius, Servando Carrasco, Perry Kitchen, Dave Romney — Sebastian Lletget — Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Ola Kamara

Los Angeles Football Club

LAFC (12-7-6) ended a stretch of five games in 15 days on a positive note, defeating the Colorado Rapids, 2-0, at Banc of California Stadium Saturday night.

Lee Nguyen scored four minutes after halftime on a terrific solo effort and Diego Rossi added the insurance goal 10 minutes from full time for LAFC’s second consecutive clean sheet victory.

“Overall I liked the game, 2-0 wins this time of year are important because 2-0 wins usually mean that there’s a solid way from start to finish,” Bob Bradley said. “Tonight, Colorado came out with a lot of energy, I thought it took a while for us to start to get a little more control. I thought the last 20 minutes of the first half were pretty strong, but the goal didn’t come so easy.”

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: D - Walker Zimmerman, M - Eduard Atuesta
International duty: None
Injury Report: OUT: GK - Quillan Roberts (right fibular fracture), M - Mark-Anthony Kaye (fractured ankle)

Projected Starting XI
(4-3-3, right to left)
GK: Tyler Miller — Steven Beitashour, Danilo Silva, Laurent Ciman, Jordan Harvey — Benny Feilhaber, Eduard Atuesta, Lee Nguyen — Carlos Vela, Christian Ramirez, Diego Rossi

All-Time Series

Overall: LA Galaxy 1 win, 6 goals … Los Angeles Football Club 0 wins, 5 goals … 1 draw
At LA: Galaxy 1 win, 4 goals … LAFC 0 wins, 3 goals … 0 draws
Last meeting at LA: LA Galaxy 4, Los Angeles Football Club 3 (March 31, 2018)