LAFC vs Vancouver Whitecaps
Saturday, June 24 at 7:30pm PT
Location: BMO Stadium - Los Angeles, California
Radio: 710 AM ESPN, ESPN LA App, 980 AM La Mera Mera
LAFC extended its winning streak to two matches after defeating the Seattle Sounders 1-0 on Wednesday, June 21. The Black & Gold now host the Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday, June 24 at BMO Stadium.
Polish forward Mateusz Bogusz's goal in the 54th second of the match, which is second fastest goal scored in LAFC history, was enough to be the decisive goal at BMO Stadium Wednesday night.
The Black & Gold now sit atop (32 points; 9-3-5) the Western Conference Standings with a three-point cushion on St. Louis City SC (29 points; 9-7-2).
LAFC will meet the Vancouver Whitecaps for the third time this year as the clubs squared off in the quarterfinals of the Concacaf Champions League in April, in which LAFC came out victorious winning 6-0 over two legs.
The Club will be without defenders Aaron Long (international duty), Sergi Palencia, and Jesús Murillo who are dealing with lower extremity injuries.
LEARN MORE:
WHITECAPS IN-DEPTH
Led by head coach Vanni Sartini, the Whitecaps are battling to stay above the playoff line as they currently sit in 9th place in the Western Conference Standings with 22 points through 17 matches played.
The Whitecaps are unbeaten in six out of their last seven matches across all competitions and will be coming in fully rested as their Wednesday night match vs the Colorado Rapids was postponed due to inclement weather.
Striker Brian White leads the club in goals scored (six goals) with Simon Becher right behind him with four goals scored.
The Club is expected to be without defenders Julian Gressel and Javain Brown, who are currently on international duty.
LAFC WILL WIN IF
They can continue to grind out wins with a roster being hit with injuries and international duty call-ups. The return of DenÃs Bouanga and José Cifuentes are a boost the squad desperately needed. The Black & Gold will not only need to depend on its goal scorers but also need to depend its short-handed backline, who now have seven shutouts in their 17 MLS matches, and have allowed 16 goals, the third-lowest total in the league.
WHITECAPS CAN WIN IF
They are able to take advantage of any LAFC mistakes. The Whitecaps have yet to win at BMO Stadium in their Club history and are looking for revenge from being knocked out of the CCL two months ago. They will most likely come out in a 4-3-2-1 formation and attempt to wear down LAFC’s depleted roster.
