A Tale of Two Opposites
On the eve of a Southern California derby, two teams with polar opposite mid-season results are set to clash. One of those teams, the LA Galaxy, will be looking to avenge an embarrassing 2-0 loss in the season-opening home game to a brand-new franchise. The 2024 MLS Cup champions have had a historically bad start to the season but remain dangerous, nonetheless.
San Diego FC is expecting Snapdragon stadium to be full of raucous fans, creating an atmosphere not seen since the LAFC match. They will look to extend their unbeaten four-game streak and prevent the Galaxy from earning their first victory of the season.
Ready After Rest
After earning seven out of a possible nine points in a three-game stretch over the course of a week, San Diego FC returned to the training ground rested and focused. The team’s fitness and depth was tested for the first time in franchise history but Mikey Varas’s side showed strong resilience and determination. Varas made minimal substitutions in the starting eleven, showing confidence in his players.
Despite the bad form of the Galaxy, San Diego is not taking them lightly. It is fully expected that Varas will go with his strongest eleven. Individual defensive mistakes have caused the Galaxy from winning important games.
One of the keys to this game for San Diego FC will be to play their style and press high, something they’ve been doing exceptionally well the last few games. SDFC will look to capitalize on defensive mistakes made by the shaky LA defense in hopes of putting the pressure on early.
With a full week’s rest, look for San Diego to press with numbers while being strong in transition – something Mikey Varas preaches. Luca Bombino has done a tremendous job shutting down the lanes on the right flank and distributing the ball into the attack.
On the opposite flank, Willy has consistently demonstrated his endurance, covering the full 90 minutes in a demanding role that requires constant movement—especially in a system where defenders are expected to push forward and support the attack.
San Diego Injury Report
Marcus Ingvartsen, Hamady Diop, and Andres Reyes remain on the injury list for the Galaxy clash. Ingvartsen, who has been injured since week four, remains sidelined as he works his way back from a leg injury. Reports have been positive on his recovery and he is trending toward a return soon.
Milan Ilosky, who is on loan through July 2025, was a temporary move to plug in that gap. Questions remain as to what the team does about Milan when Ingvartsen is eventually back on the pitch, most likely around the July timeframe.
Credit: Sports Business Journal
Andres Reyes has not seen playing time since going off with a red card in a disastrous debut. The Colombian international is dealing with another lower body injury that may be a continuation of the same ailment that kept him out of games through the beginning of the season. SDFC have reiterated the importance that Reyes plays for this squad and remain optimistic about his future. He has often been seen on the training ground but is not deemed well enough to play meaningful minutes yet.
Galaxy’s Winless Woes
The question everybody is asking tends to be – What is wrong with the Galaxy? The answer to that is not quite as simple. It may be a combination of a few things like injuries, simple bad luck, and players’ mindsets. After all, it’s hard to stay focused and play your best for anyone going through a difficult season where it seems that everything is all but lost.
Last season, the Los Angeles Galaxy lead the conference with 69 total goals scored averaging a little above two goals per game. This season, they’ve racked up 12 while giving up a league-leading 33 goals. The next team with the most goals given up? DC United with 25. That is eight more goals given up than the next worst team in defense.
Blame It on the Injuries
The injury bug has been real for Los Angeles this year. After losing an irreplaceable playmaker and goal scorer – Riqui Puig, the Galaxy have also been without Marco Reus, a three-time Bundesliga player of the year. Reus is only now making his comeback and finally starting to deliver for LA as he scored two goals in El Traffico last weekend.
Joseph Paintsil and Gabriel Pec, two important strikers have missed significant time as well with injury. The Galaxy have recently got them back and the performance of the club has shown to improve but chemistry takes time to build, something that they will hope comes faster than normal because time to make up ground is quickly running out.
Numbers Don’t Lie
The galaxy will look to their playmakers, especially Reus, who has 3g/3a over his last five matches to be the player they expected him to be when they signed him. After all, when looking at the statistics, it is clear that the Galaxy are not creating many goal scoring opportunities. Also, the scoring opportunities that they are creating – they’re not capitalizing on. Let’s compare xG (expected goals) stats between the two clubs.
On the left – the Los Angeles Galaxy have 152 shots all season. Out of those 152 shots – they’ve scored a combined 12 goals. The telling part is the xG number of 16.12 – this indicated that due to their obvious scoring chances, they should have a total of 16 goals. They are simply not capitalizing on extremely important moments in games.
This may be the most important difference in what could have been vs what is. In nine out of 14 total MLS 2025 season matches, one goal was the difference between either tying or winning the game for the Galaxy. A ridiculously close margin that they have simply not been able to capitalize on.
Credit: Los Angeles Daily News
This statistic will be important to remember for San Diego. It’s clear that Galaxy keeps the games close and there is slim margin for any error.
Conversely, San Diego scored 23 goals on 197 shots. Their expected goals number is 23.27 – indicating that the team is right where they need to be. Of course, the team will want to have scored more goals but soccer is a game that is not played by the book.
Over the course of the season, SDFC hit a plateau where they found it difficult to score goals. A clear lack of creativity in the front derailed the team’s early success. Teams found a way to play defense against them due to more video being available as they played more matches. Varas has been keen on addressing that issue on the training ground and the team seems to be responding by finding creative ways to get inside the box and break opponents down.
A Game of Significance
The game on Saturday promises to be one of great significance for both teams. For LA, it will be seeking sweet revenge and notching that very important first win of the season to set them on the right track.
San Diego is coming off of a frustrating draw where Kansas City made it hard to score by playing extremely defensive. Luca Bombino promised that the team will come out with more intensity after being fully rested and hungry for a win.
A victory in front of the home fans, who are likely to sell out Snapdragon Stadium, will be another stamp on the resume of a team that entered the season with modest expectations from MLS analysts, projected to finish in the bottom half of the table. A team who is, so far, proving everyone who doubted them wrong.
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