The LA Galaxy and LAFC will face off on Saturday in Orlando. LAFC played their first game against the Houston Dynamo, which resulted in a 3-3 draw. LAFC fought back trailing 3-1, to salvage a point in group play. The LA Galaxy got off to a slow start and missed opportunities against the Portland Timbers, which resulted in a 2-1 loss.
Javier Chicharito Hernandez missed a couple of easy opportunities, one of them being a penalty kick. Chicharito is one of the players to watch on Saturday, as he will look to bounce back from Monday’s performance. He did get his first MLS goal against Portland, but if he had capitalized on some of his opportunities, LA would have likely defeated the Timbers. Chicharito will need to have a solid performance for LA to have a chance to defeat LAFC.
The second player to watch is Christian Pavon. Pavon is the playmaker of the team, and he must play at a high level for the Galaxy to keep up with LAFC. The Galaxy had two goals called off due to off-sides toward the end of the game against Portland, but Pavon created those opportunities. Last season, Pavon played in 11 games for the Galaxy and had eight assists. If he can replicate that type of play, the Galaxy could get past this group stage.
The third player to watch is Diego Rossi. Rossi had a goal and an assist on Monday for LAFC. With Vela’s absence, the whole team needs to step up, and we saw that from LAFC in the second half of the game against the Houston Dynamo. Rossi is not only a maestro, but he could also score goals. Rossi could be the X-factor during the El Trafico.
This is a must-win scenario for the LA Galaxy because if they drop another game, they will have zero points in two games played, with one more game remaining, and they will likely miss the playoff rounds.
