Sports Mole previews Thursday’s Major League Soccer clash between Los Angeles FC and St Louis City, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Los Angeles FC will be aiming to heap pressure on Los Angeles Galaxy at the top of the MLS Western Conference when they welcome St Louis City to the BMO Stadium on Thursday.
Following their US Open Cup triumph, the home side resumed league duty with a hard-fought triumph over Cincinnati, while the away side cruised to a 3-1 win over Sporting Kansas City.
Match preview
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Since crashing out of the Leagues Cup to Columbus Crew, Los Angeles FC had seen their MLS form falter, having gone five straight matches without a victory prior to their US Open Cup final against Sporting Kansas City last Thursday.
Facing off against Cincinnati last time out, Steve Cherundolo‘s men edged ahead 10 minutes before the interval thanks to David Martinez but were pegged back by Luca Orellano just past the hour mark, after which Denis Bouanga grabbed the winner 17 minutes from time.
With LA Galaxy not in action last time out, Los Angeles FC have now cut the gap at the summit to two points and could potentially leapfrog their city rivals by claiming all three points in their next outing.
The Black and Gold have already gotten the better of St Louis this term courtesy of a 2-0 triumph in May’s earlier meeting, which, in all honesty, could have easily swung the other way on another day.
In the first of three games over the next two weeks against teams currently in the bottom three, Thursday’s hosts know a 100% record from here on out guarantees them top spot in the West and will be keen to get off to a good start.
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St Louis City claimed back-to-back league wins for the first time since the turn of the campaign as they saw off the threat of Sporting Kansas City to claim a routine 3-1 win at CITYPARK on Sunday.
Cedric Teuchert was up to his first-half exploits once again with a 33rd-minute opener, after which strikes from Rasmus Alm and Eduard Lowen either side of Stephen Afrifa‘s consolation wrapped up all three points for John Hackworth‘s men.
Only Minnesota United have picked up more points than St Louis City over the last five gameweeks, and this upturn in form has propelled them to 12th in the conference standings, albeit with no chance for playoff contention due to their 11-point deficit from ninth-place Portland Timbers.
Nonetheless, the Missouri-based outfit will be keen to string together a strong run of results in the final few weeks ahead of their third Major League Soccer campaign, where they will be looking to make an instant return to the playoffs.
Los Angeles FC Major League Soccer form:
Los Angeles FC form (all competitions):
St Louis City Major League Soccer form:
Team News
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Henry Kessler is unavailable for St Louis City due to a concussion protocol, while Joakim Nilsson continues his spell out of action with a torn hamstring.
Tomas Ostrak and Celio Pompeu are also out of contention for the visitors’ trip to Los Angeles as they remain sidelined through ankle and foot injuries respectively.
American duo Chris Durkin and Indiana Vassilev are set to miss a second game on the bounce having both sustained injuries in last week’s 2-1 win over San Jose Earthquakes.
Sergi Palencia will serve a one-game suspension due to an accumulation of yellow cards, making him ineligible to feature for Los Angeles FC here.
The home side will also be without defenders Jesus Murillo, Aaron Long and Lorenzo Dellavalle, but Cristian Olivera is back after making his first league outing since the beginning of September last time out.
Los Angeles FC possible starting lineup:
Lloris; Segura, Chanot, Hollingshead; Campos, O’Brien, Sanchez, Olivera; Bogusz, Bouanga, Giroud
St Louis City possible starting lineup:
Burki; Totland, Kessler, Hiebert, Horn; Alm, Lowen, Watts, Hartel; Teuchert, Joao Klauss
We say: Los Angeles FC 3-1 St Louis City
Despite their recent resurgence, St Louis City have remained defensively fragile and are set for a tough test in Los Angeles.
We can see the home side coming out victorious at the end of the 90 minutes.
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