A pair of solid performances have the Los Angeles Galaxy back on the right path to the postseason, as they have a chance to move into a top four position in the Western Conference when they host Dallas on Saturday.
Marco Ferruzzi remains without a victory as the interim coach of the Toros after his side squandered a pair of advantages, losing 3-2 to Los Angeles FC, while the Galaxy have now won two in a row after going winless in nine.
Match preview
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It has been a bumpy road of late for Greg Vanney and his LA Galaxy, but their playoff chances are looking a lot better following a 3-0 win versus the Houston Dynamo.
LA left no doubt on Wednesday, leading 3-0 early on into the second half for its first road victory in their last six games and ending a three-match losing run away from home.
With four games remaining, the Galaxy can breathe a little easier, sitting in fifth with 45 points and just a point behind the Portland Timbers for fourth, a spot that they were sitting in throughout much of this campaign.
Their job is not done, however, as they are only three points above Real Salt Lake, who are just outside of the top seven, so the Galaxy cannot afford to get too comfortable especially knowing how rarely the teams in and around the playoff bubble have lost in recent memory.
They may have been clinical against Houston, scoring on three of their five targeted efforts, but finding the back of the net down the stretch may not be so easy given that they follow up this encounter with road fixtures at Sporting Kansas City and then the Seattle Sounders before wrapping up the regular season at home to Minnesota United.
Last Saturday, LA were not nearly as clinical in front of goal, creating 3.3 expected goals against the Timbers but only squeaking by thanks to a needless challenge from Portland defender Jose Van Rankin in injury time, leading to a game-winning penalty.
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Time and again this year, Dallas have been finding ways to lose, so it should come as no surprise that they gave up two one-goal leads earlier this week, conceding twice in the second half, having now gone eight games without a win.
Every time you think that something good is coming their way, something seems to happen to derail the Toros momentum, and that was the case for them in midweek.
Twice they had the lead with chances to put the game away, but they could not convert their opportunities and were made to pay for it as LA scored twice in the final 15 minutes of play to leave Dallas empty-handed.
The Toros have been incredibly careless inside of their 18-yard box this year, conceding a league-high nine penalties, including one to the Black-and-Gold to give their opponents some life in the first half.
For the first time since 2017, Dallas will not be a part of the MLS Cup playoffs, and they are currently on their longest winless run in the regular season since that year, when they failed to win in 10 successive fixtures.
Knowing all of that, you have to think that unless they can play some outstanding football the rest of the way, this franchise could be in for some drastic changes when their season is complete.
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Team News
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Sacha Kljestan has goals in back-to-back games for the Galaxy, both of which came from the penalty spot, while Chicharito has a goal and an assist in his last two games and Victor Vazquez has two assists in his previous three outings.
Jorge Villafana is questionable due to an undisclosed injury, and Julian Araujo, who is tied with Vazquez for the team lead in assists, will have to sit this one out after collecting another yellow card earlier this week.
Goalkeeper Jonathan Bond made seven saves in their previous outing, collecting his first clean sheet since July 4 when an Efrain Alvarez strike helped LA to a 1-0 win over Real Salt Lake.
Ryan Hollingshead got the ball rolling for Dallas early on against the Black-and-Gold, his third of the year with Franco Jara notching his fifth near the end of the half, as both goals came thanks to some nice set-ups from Jesus Ferreira and Jader Obrian, respectively.
Phelipe came close to saving a first-half penalty from Cristian Arango, but the shot was ultimately just too strong, while Ema Twumasi would wish that he could have the third goal that his side conceded back as he panicked in the Dallas penalty area with his failed clearance eventually coming to Arango, who picked up his hat-trick on the play.
There are reports that teenage phenomenon Ricardo Pepi could be on his way out soon, but for the moment, he is not playing due to a foot injury, Facundo Quignon has a thigh issue, Johnny Nelson is out after his back surgery and Beni Redzic remains on the sidelines with an ankle sprain.
Los Angeles Galaxy possible starting lineup:
Bond; Araujo, Coulibaly, DePuy, Steres; Raveloson, Lletget, Dos Santos, Vazquez; Cabral, Chicharito
Dallas possible starting lineup:
Phelipe; Munjoma, Hedges, Martinez, Hollingshead; Acosta, Cerrillo; Obrian, Ferreira, Vargas; Jara
We say: Los Angeles Galaxy 2-0 Dallas
Greg Vanney is used to these pressure situations as a manager, and he knows that their schedule down the stretch will be challenging, so expect to see a lot of conviction and purpose from his team on Saturday.
Dallas are without a win on the road in four straight contests, and perhaps the only good news for them at the moment is that there are only four games left in their season.
Top tip
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 Los Angeles Galaxy win with a probability of 54.38%. A win for Dallas had a probability of 23.79% and a draw had a probability of 21.8%.
The most likely scoreline for a Los Angeles Galaxy win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.71%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (7.96%) and 2-0 (7.84%). The likeliest Dallas win was 1-2 (6.11%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (9.86%). The actual scoreline of 2-2 was predicted with a 6% likelihood.
