With less than 48 hours' time between LAFC's Wednesday U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal defeat at home and Friday night's MLS match at the Houston Dynamo (9 pm ET | UniMas, Twitter, MLS LIVE on DAZN in Canada0, manager Bob Bradley has made nine changes to his XI, including dropping playmaker Carlos Vela to the subs bench.
It's more or less an expected move: Teams are almost never scheduled into such short turnarounds. And some coaches might've been tempted to leave their biggest star home all together to recover following one of their team's more hotly contested matches of the season.
However, Bradley did not come out and say outright that he would rest Vela following Wednesday's 1-0 loss to the Portland Timbers. And entering Friday, the 30-year-old Mexican international had played all but 11 competitive minutes for LAFC this season.
Fullback Steven Beitashour and midfielder Mark-Anthony Kaye are the only LAFC players to get the starting nod in both games. Also, Tyler Miller returned in goal following his extended stint with the US national team during the Concacaf Gold Cup.
