A trip to Seattle is never easy for the Los Angeles Galaxy.
And it appears Sunday’s match will be no different.
The Galaxy (5-2-3, 18 points), who entered the weekend tied for first place in the Western Conference, will be without top striker Dejan Joveljic (hip injury) and playmaking midfielder Riqui Puig (suspended for yellow card accumulation) when they face the Sounders (2-5-3, 9 points). Joveljic leads the Galaxy with six goals, while Puig has three goals and four assists.
The Galaxy haven’t won at Lumen Field since 2016, going 0-5-2 in that stretch. They did beat Seattle 1-0 in a downpour on March 30 at home, with Gabriel Pec slipping a shot past Stefan Frei in the fourth minute.
“They’ve played well in recent games, they’ve dealt with some injuries, but as guys get healthy and available, they have speed and are very difficult to break down,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said. “I expect it’s going to be a difficult game. For us, we’ve got to continue to try to be the best version of us. We have to get off to a better start and against these teams that are hard to score against.
“You can’t concede goals easily because your chances are going to be fewer and far between, so we need to be solid on the defensive side, stay connected and play our moments, be solid in possession and we can’t give the chances to run free on us.”
The Sounders are coming off a 3-2 victory at Philadelphia on Tuesday in the resumption of a March 9 match that was halted because of an unplayable, water-logged pitch. Raul Ruidiaz tallied twice, giving him a team-leading six this season, and Obed Vargas scored his first MLS goal.
That came after a 2-1 loss last weekend against D.C. United in which Frei was issued a red card for taking down a player in the penalty box. The card was later rescinded, making Frei eligible to play Sunday.
The Sounders pushed hard for an equalizer in the second half at D.C., nearly converting several chances despite being down a man.
“We look like a different team the last three halves,” Sounders midfielder Cristian Roldan said. “That’s what we’re going to take from (Tuesday’s) game and hopefully we carry on with a little bit more momentum.”
–Field Level Media
