Whitecaps/ LA Galaxy Game Intro
Don’t look now but the Whitecaps are about to let their playoff aspirations slip away in a growing tailspin burdened by three consecutive losses, and now they travel to LA to play the surging LA Galaxy and their triumvirate of league superstars.
10:00 PM ET
Record
VANWH 10-10-7 (3-8-3 V)
LA 12-11-4 (6-5-1 H)
Matchup/Stats Insight
The desperation seeping into Vancouver’s play is apparent in their recent series against west coast opponents in Seattle and Portland, and the need to stem the flow is now urgent.
LA Galaxy
The Galaxy had a poor start to the year but they have been gelling over the past couple of months in a manner that suggests they could be en route to a second consecutive MLS Cup. Their key players are leading the way.
Robbie Keane has climbed into the league’s list of top five goal scorers and Landon Donovan has done the same in the assists category.
And now the Californian boys have also improved their defence with three shutouts in their past five matches, to match their offensive prowess.
Vancouver Whitecaps
In order for Vancouver to regain its mojo two things have to happen. First of all, the Whitecaps need to re-establish the team chemistry that contributed to their tremendous start.
That excellent interplay, borne of a well worked training regimen from the pre-season, has faded dramatically with their team shuffling.
The result of this revolving door policy of player movement has been confusion on a grand scale on the pitch.
MLS Matchup Report: Vancouver Whitecaps vs. LA Galaxy
The second issue is that for the Whitecaps to win, they need to keep their best players on the pitch.
Currently, five of the ten most disciplined players in the league play for Vancouver, including three of the top five with Alain Rochat and Darren Mattocks heading that list.
Mattocks is suspended yet again for this game, and the team needs Kenny Miller to continue scoring as he did in his last start.
Predictions
Vancouver’s struggles increasingly appear to have no quick fix, so a draw here would be a fair result.
More importantly, the ‘Caps need a solid team performance of any type, even if it is in a close loss.
Vancouver will eke out a 1-1 stalemate in the City of Angels.
Video
Whitecaps FC head coach Martin Rennie comments on facing L.A. Galaxy
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