LA Galaxy vs. LAFC Prediction, Preview and Odds - 5/8/21
The Los Angeles Galaxy will be trying to pick up their second consecutive home win when they face LAFC in this season’s first edition of El Trafico on Saturday night. The Galaxy are coming off a 3-0 loss to Seattle in their last game. LAFC is coming off a 1-1 draw against Houston in their last game.
LA Galaxy is 4-3-3 in its last 10 games against LAFC.
Galaxy Need To Fix Defense
The Galaxy have won two of three games, but they aren’t playing well defensively, giving up seven goals, which is the second-most in the league. Manager Greg Vanney tried to address the issue in their last game by altering his starting lineup, but it didn’t work and the team gave up two quick goals in the first 25 minutes. They will need to figure out their defensive issues if they want to be seen as legitimate contenders.
Offensively, the Galaxy are playing well, led by Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez, who scored five goals in their first two games. He was held off the scoresheet by the Sounders for the first time this season.
They complete 86.4 percent of their passes, but they struggled with their accuracy, with only two of their 10 shots on target.
Jonathan Bond gave up three goals in their last game and he will start in goal again on Saturday. He has made 16 saves and given up seven goals this season.
LAFC Looking For First Road Win
LAFC followed up their season-opening win with two consecutive draws. They will try to put an end to their winless streak with a win over their rivals, which will give them their first road win of the year.
LAFC hasn’t looked good offensively, scoring four goals in three games. The absence of former league MVP Carlos Vela is one of the reasons they haven’t played well. Even if he returns for this game, which isn’t likely, he has played less than 30 minutes this season and will need some time to get back in form.
Manager Bob Bradley replaced Vela with 19-year-old forward Kwadwo Opoku, who has yet to score a goal this season. They will need some offense from him and Diego Rossi, returned to the starting lineup against Houston after missing their first two games with an injury.
Pablo Sisniega has given up two goals in three games. He has saved 80 percent of the shots on goal and has a clean sheet this season.
Side: LA Galaxy +230
LAFC has struggled offensively. Even if Vela plays, he won’t have much of an impact for them with very little training time and lack of game action. Rossi struggled in his first game back from injury and won’t be able to carry the offense on his back, so expect their struggles to continue in this game. The Galaxy are terrible defensively, but their offense has been great and bailed them out in their first two games. Even though they struggled in their last game, expect Chicharito to bounce back and lead the Galaxy to the win.
Total: Over 3.5
The Galaxy play poorly defensively and have given up seven goals in three games. Even though LAFC has struggled offensively, they’ve scored at least one goal in each game and will score at least two goals against the Galaxy, who haven’t given up less than two goals in a game so far. LA Galaxy is averaging two goals per game. They averaged 1.66 goals per game in their last three games against LAFC. Even though LAFC has given up only two goals in three games, the Galaxy will score enough goals to push the score over the total. LAFC and LA Galaxy played over the total in seven of their last 10 meetings.