The second El Trafico of the year is ahead of us, with LA Galaxy hosting the LA FC. The two rivals already clashed in the US Open Cup, and the Galaxy had more success in that one, eliminating the MLS champions. Things ain’t that bright for either of the two LA clubs. Galaxy is near the bottom of the standings, not posting a win for a long time. On the other side are the champs, who lost pace since mid-May and can’t get back into the winning rhythm.
Preview
LA Galaxy (+260) have just one win in the past ten games, and that was way back at the start of June when they beat Real Salt Lake on the road, 2-3. After that, we’ve seen them lose to the same team in the US Open Cup and have four draws in a row.
One by one, they played without winners against St. Louis City, Sporting Kansas City, Colorado Rapids, and San Jose Earthquakes. All the games but the one against SKC were away from LA.
Five of the previous six events Galaxy had ended with both teams scoring. Four of them were with four or more hits, so we can say that Greg Vanney’s crew plays efficient football with plenty of action on both ends.
LA FC (+100) is in massive trouble. The champs have seven defeats across all the competitions in the previous ten games, and for the moment, they look rather pale and without a solution to this situation.
The last two losses were against the Vancouver Whitecaps, 2-3 at home, and in Dallas against FC, who beat the 2022 MLS winners 2-0. Problems are pilling in all the areas on the field, but the most notable is in midfield, with the players in that line completely losing their compass over the recent few weeks.
Their lack of quality performances has a massive impact on the defense, and it’s no wonder why LA FC managed to keep only one clean sheet in the recent dozen events.
Latest News
Veterans and biggest stars, Chicarito and Martin Caceres, are both out due to their injuries. Their absence is a massive setback for Vanney, who doesn’t have the proper replacements. Memo Rodriguez is also injured and ineligible for the home team.
On the other side, Maxime Creapau broke his leg and will be out for a while. Sergi Palencia and Jesus Murillo are injured too.
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Head to Head Games
Galaxy eliminated LA FC from the US Open Cup in late May, beating the big rivals in their own house 0-2. Boyd and Puig blitzed the hosts at the start of the second half, scoring each in the span of three minutes. That was enough for the Galaxy to win.
Prediction
These two units are in terrible shape, and recent results suggest that it is wiser to bet on high efficiency than the full-time result or the winner. The respective defenses are in problems, while the attacks still show some signs of life. Therefore we are going with both teams to score and over 2.5 goals, with the odds on that are at -165.
Pick: Both teams to score and Over 2.5 goals -165
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Nikola Velickovic is a sports journalist who loves to write and read on all sports. Nikola contributes both news updates and functions as a sports breaking news writer at WagerBop.
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Email: nikola@wagerbop.com
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