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Expecting some challenges in the early going, the defending champion Los Angeles Galaxy appear to be facing an even deeper test than they could have imagined as they host St. Louis City on Sunday at Carson, Calif.

Without playmaker Riqui Puig (knee) for an extended period and forward Joseph Paintsil (quad) also out to start the season, the Galaxy (0-2-0, 0 points) have shown little to no offense.

In two league games and one matchup in CONCACAF Champions Cup play, the Galaxy have just one goal. That came in last week’s 2-1 MLS defeat on the road against the Vancouver Whitecaps.

The Galaxy nearly had their first point of the season at Vancouver before giving up the go-ahead score in the 87th minute. Gabriel Pec scored in the first half for LA’s only goal on the season.

Despite the three early defeats, head coach Greg Vanney is seeing small signs of progress.

“I thought we put together the chances that we needed, but we’ve got to bury them,” Vanney said after a 1-0 road loss to Costa Rica’s CS Herediano in Wednesday’s Champions Cup game. “We’ve got to be more clinical in the final action, (but) we saw we had more looks tonight than we’ve had in the previous couple of games.”

St. Louis City (0-0-2, 2 points) also is in an offensive predicament without a goal this season. But they haven’t conceded one either, while earning points from a pair of scoreless draws.

The team’s most recent 0-0 tie came at expansion San Diego FC on March 1. The St. Louis City defense has been so good, goalkeeper Roman Burki has needed to make only one total save in the pair of clean sheets.

Now, the third-year club sets its sights on stopping a sputtering offense during its second game in Southern California in two weeks.

St. Louis City head coach Olof Mellberg said his defense did well to spoil San Diego FC’s home debut party as he waits for more from the offense.

“I thought we lost the ball too easily and too quickly (at San Diego) and that’s what made us defend for long periods of time,” Mellberg said. “… We definitely need to improve our buildup, have more options there so we don’t end up defending most of the game.”

–Field Level Media