With both sides having had identical starts to the Major League Soccer season, Los Angeles FC and New York City FC square off on Saturday as they both aim to move closer to the top end of their respective conferences.
The two teams have each collected eight points from their opening six league matches, putting the hosts ninth spot in the Western Conference and the visitors in sixth place in the Eastern Conference.
Match preview
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Los Angeles FC picked up their second victory of the MLS season last time out, as they took on Colorado Rapids in California.
A Diego Rossi brace put the hosts 2-0 up in the first half, and Michael Barrios's goal soon after half time was not enough to spark a comeback for the visitors.
That followed consecutive defeats for Bob Bradley's side, firstly losing 2-1 away against city rivals LA Galaxy.
They then suffered a 2-0 away defeat to Seattle Sounders, as goals in the second half from Xavier Arreaga and Brad Smith sealed a comfortable victory for the hosts.
One positive for Bradley's men is their home form though, having won two and drawn one of their three games on home turf so far this season.
They will look to continue that on Saturday, when New York City make the long trip to Los Angeles.
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The visitors come into this game on the back of a narrow defeat to Columbus Crew, as they looked set to pick up a result.
Ronny Deila's men led throughout the encounter thanks to Ismael Tajouri's early opener, but Lucas Zelarayan levelled the game in the 82nd minute before he netted the winner for the visitors in the 95th minute to cruelly snatch all three points.
Before that, they were again held to a somewhat disappointing result, as Jesus Medina's opener against Toronto was cancelled out by a Jacob Shaffelburg equaliser in the 73rd minute to force Deila's men to share the points.
After an impressive start to the season with two wins from their opening three matches, the Pigeons have since dropped down the division with two points from the last three games.
The New York outfit now occupy sixth spot in the Eastern Conference, although they remain just one point behind fifth-placed Atlanta United and two points behind fourth-placed Nashville SC, meaning they could quickly rise back up to the top end of the division if they can reverse their fortunes.
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Team News
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Los Angeles' injury problems have been eased recently, with only Kwadwo Opoku and Erik Duenas expected to miss out on Saturday.
Despite a slow start to the campaign, Mexican forward Carlos Vela still brings plenty of quality to the front line, and he is the main threat for the Californian outfit.
He will be supported by the wide threat of Corey Baird and Diego Rossi, with the pair registering a combined five goals and two assists so far this season.
At the other end of the pitch, Jesus Murillo and Eddie Segura should partner up at the heart of the back line, shielding Pablo Sisniega between the sticks.
New York City will remain without Heder and Gedion Zelalem through injury, while the availability of Anton Tinnerholm and Alexander Callens is doubtful.
New signing Thiago Andrade recently joined up with the squad after visa issues, but he may be eased into action after a long spell out of action.
The line should be led by Valentin Castellanos, who has had a strong start to the campaign with four goals and two assists in the first six games.
He has been complemented well by Jesus Medina, who has chipped in with four goals of his own.
Los Angeles FC possible starting lineup:
Sisnega; Blackmon, Segura, Medina, Palacios; Blessing, Kaye, Atuesta; Baird, Vela, Rossi
New York City FC possible starting lineup:
Johnson; Amundsen, Ibeagha, Chanot, Thorarinsson; Sands, Parks; Medina, Moralez, Tajouri; Castellanos
We say: Los Angeles FC 1-1 New York City FC
In a game between two evenly-matched sides, we cannot quite pick a winner, instead opting for a draw in Los Angeles.
Both sides have had inconsistent starts to the season and will be expecting to rise up their respective tables, and we see them drawing in a cagey affair as both fear losing.
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 FC win with a probability of 50.18%. A win for New York City FC had a probability of 27.2% and a draw had a probability of 22.6%.
The most likely scoreline for a Los Angeles FC win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.5%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (7.73%) and 2-0 (7.2%). The likeliest New York City FC win was 1-2 (6.73%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (10.2%). The actual scoreline of 1-2 was predicted with a 6.7% likelihood.
