Los Angeles Galaxy make the trip to Seattle Sounders on Sunday night looking to extend their winning streak in the MLS to three matches.
While the visitors have started the new season with a 100% record, the Sounders are also unbeaten after recording a victory and a draw during the second half of April.
Match preview
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Having finished in 20th place and missed out on the MLS Playoffs last season, LA Galaxy were in need of a strong start to rid themselves of that disappointment.
While Greg Vanney's side look far from the finished article, two thrilling 3-2 victories over Inter Miami and New York Red Bulls have got the club off to the perfect start.
Javier Hernandez has netted five of Galaxy's six goals, his hat-trick versus the Red Bulls coming in the first hour of the contest at Dignity Health Sports Park.
The defence will inevitably have to improve as the campaign progresses, but Galaxy will take pride in being the only MLS club to have posted two successive victories.
The Sounders are one of seven other teams to come through their opening double-header unbeaten and with a win and a draw to their name.
After making light work of Minnesota United on the first weekend of the season, they came from behind to earn a share of the spoils at Los Angeles FC.
On the back of being runners-up in the MLS Playoffs in 2020, Brian Schmetzer will be satisfied with how his team have performed ahead of welcoming Galaxy to the Lumen Field.
Seven players have already contributed a goal or assist, including former Liverpool youngster Brad Smith who netted the equaliser in the last game.
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Team News
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Galaxy are without midfielder Sebastian Lletget, who sits out the second of his two-match ban for using homophobic language towards a teammate last month.
Given their performance during the opening hour against the Red Bulls, Vanney will give consideration to naming the same side.
Carlos Harvey, Sacha Kljestan and Efrain Alvarez are all options for Galaxy if Vanney wants to introduce any fresh faces.
Nicolas Lodeiro will return to the Sounders squad for this game after recently being sidelined with a thigh injury.
Fredy Montero is also pushing for a place in the squad after fitness issues, although the veteran will only be named among the replacements at best.
Seattle Sounders possible starting lineup:
Frei; O'Neill, Arreaga, Tolo; A.Roldan, C.Roldan, Paulo, Atencio, Smith; Ruidiaz, Bruin
Los Angeles Galaxy possible starting lineup:
Bond; Araujo, Steres, DePuy, Villafana; Santos, Saldana; Zubak, Vazquez, Grandsir; Hernandez
We say: Seattle Sounders 1-1 Los Angeles Galaxy
With each of these teams looking to claim top spot in the Western Conference by the end of the weekend, there will be an emphasis on pushing hard for victory. Nevertheless, we expect the clubs with the best defence and attack to cancel each other out in a hard-fought contest.
Top tip
Darren Plant
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Seattle Sounders win with a probability of 65.97%. A draw had a probability of 18.8% and a win for Los Angeles Galaxy had a probability of 15.26%.
The most likely scoreline for a Seattle Sounders win was 2-0 with a probability of 9.84%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.8%) and 1-0 (8.69%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (8.65%), while for a Los Angeles Galaxy win it was 1-2 (4.31%). The actual scoreline of 3-0 was predicted with a 7.4% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Seattle Sounders would win this match.
