Los Angeles FC has clinched homefield advantage for the first round and can still finish with the top seed in the West playoff table.
But to stay home throughout the conference’s postseason, they will need to win some crucial matches without key players. That task begins Wednesday night when they host Toronto FC.
LAFC (16-7-8, 56 points) has to play their next two matches without the league’s hottest scorers, Denis Bouanga and Son Heung-Min, who will be away on international duty. They will also be without Mathieu Choiniere and Nathan Ordaz for the same reason.
But Bouanga, whose 86th-minute goal Sunday gave LAFC a 1-0 home win over Atlanta United, has faith the remaining players can keep a five-fixture winning streak going.
“I fully trust the team,” he said. “With or without us, we’re going to make it and carry on.”
The temporary absence of Bouanga and Son means someone else must step up to score. The pair has combined for the team’s last 18 goals, with Bouanga netting his 24th on Sunday to tie Lionel Messi for the league lead. It was also Bouanga’s 65th goal in 100 appearances for LAFC.
While Los Angeles aims to improve its playoff positioning, Toronto (5-13-14, 29 points) played to its eighth straight draw Saturday — using Djordje Mihailovic’s goal in the 10th minute of stoppage time to secure a 2-2 tie at Chicago.
Like LAFC, Toronto will be short-handed for this match. Coach Robin Fraser anticipates being without Jonathan Osorio, Derrick Etienne Jr. and Richie Laryea. Osorio and Laryea will be on international duty for Canada, and Etienne will play for Haiti in a pair of World Cup qualifiers.
“You try to have the team system and mentality ingrained in such a way that it’s plug and play,” Fraser said. “Obviously, you miss some real experience with some of these guys — all three, actually — but we have a lot of good, young players.”
Toronto, which has been eliminated from playoff contention for a while, hasn’t won since its last trip to the West Coast. It blanked West co-leader San Diego 1-0 on July 16.
–Field Level Media
