The final match in a jam-packed weekend of Major League Soccer is set to come from CityPark where St Louis City will play host to Los Angeles Galaxy on Sunday night.
These sides have had contrasting seasons to this point, with the hosts currently second bottom in the Western Conference standings, while the visitors are in pole position after 27 games.
Match preview
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It has been a complete reversal of roles between these clubs this season, as last term, it was St Louis who ended the campaign top of the table, while LA Galaxy finished just above last-placed Colorado.
City won exactly half of their MLS matches in 2023, but have only managed four wins in 26 games this season, along with a league-high 12 draws and 10 defeats, and enter this match winless in their last five in the top flight.
The most recent of those matches was a thrilling 4-4 draw away to the Portland Timbers last week, where St Louis looked to be cruising to victory at 4-2 up, but conceded two late goals to walk away with only a share of the spoils.
A run of nine games without victory between mid-May and the end of June saw the club part ways with South African Bradley Carnell on July 1, but things have not really improved under John Hackworth, who has won only one of his first six games in charge.
However, the hosts will gain some confidence heading into this match having gone unbeaten in regulation time in their three home games during the Leagues Cup and have not lost to Galaxy in their last four encounters, winning one and drawing the remaining three.
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Meanwhile, Los Angeles Galaxy have made major improvements from last season as they notched up their 15th league win of the campaign last week and are now just one victory away from doubling the eight wins they managed across the entire of 2023.
However, the job is far from done since their 52-point tally is only five points better than cross-town rivals LAFC's 47, while the Black and Gold Falcons also have three games in hand on them.
After bowing out of the Leagues Cup with a 3-1 defeat to the Seattle Sounders, Los Galacticos resumed league action with a 2-0 win over Atlanta United last week, which extended their winning streak to three in a row.
On the road, though, Greg Vanney's side have been much less impressive, taking 19 points from 13 games with a record of five wins, four draws and four losses, which is only the seventh-best away record in the MLS.
Team News
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A portion of St Louis' difficulties this season has been attributable to their fairly lengthy injury list which currently features five first-team players, including Tomas Ostrak and Rasmus Alm, who are ruled out for the foreseeable future.
Celio Pompeu has now missed 13 games with a broken fibula and is also some way away from a return, while Joao Klauss and Joakim Nilsson are sidelined until the end of the month with knee injuries.
Galaxy will have to make do without the services of the influential Riqui Puig for this match after the Spaniard crossed the yellow card threshold in last week's victory over Atlanta.
In terms of injury absentees, defenders Julian Aude and Emiro Garces are ruled out for this match owing to a groin and calf injury respectively, though the former is believed to be closing in on a return to full fitness.
St Louis City possible starting lineup:
Burki; Totland, Kessler, Hiebert, Reid; Thorisson, Durkin, Lowen, Hartel; Teuchert, Becher
Los Angeles Galaxy possible starting lineup:
McCarthy; Yamane, Neal, Yoshida, Nelson; Delgado, Cerillo, Pec, Fagundez, Reus; Paintsil
We say: St Louis City 2-2 Los Angeles Galaxy
While St Louis have been very poor this season, they have delivered good attacking returns in recent weeks, netting nine goals in their last three matches in all competitions. Galaxy, on the other hand, have done their best work this season at home, while their away record is average at best.
There should be plenty of chances created at both ends in this match, but we feel there will be nothing to split these two at the final whistle.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
