Los Angeles Galaxy host Real Salt Lake in the MLS Western Conference on Wednesday, with the visitors looking to move inside the playoff positions.
LA Galaxy, meanwhile, are five points behind league leaders Seattle Sounders, but do have an eight-point gap over Salt Lake, who are one place outside of the playoff places.
Match preview
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After missing out on the playoffs in three of the last four seasons, reaching the crucial end-of-season event will be LA Galaxy's primary aim this season.
Greg Vanney, who made 193 appearances for the club as a player during two spells, was brought in as head coach in January in an attempt to restore the glory days at one of the MLS' biggest clubs.
It has been a decent start for the 47-year-old, who is perhaps best known as a manager for guiding Toronto FC to a maiden MLS Cup in 2017, winning eight and losing five of his 13 games in charge so far.
A rate of almost two points per game should be more than enough to comfortably guide Galaxy into the playoffs, where they will be expected to compete rather than simply make up the numbers.
However, Vanney will be looking for a reaction against Salt Lake on Wednesday after a disappointing 2-1 defeat away to Vancouver at the weekend, with Rayan Raveloson's fifth-minute strike perhaps causing a degree of complacency as the hosts struck twice in the second half to secure victory.
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Like their forthcoming opponents, Salt Lake also missed out on the playoffs last season, having reached the quarter-finals in 2018 and 2019.
Rather surprisingly, perhaps, Freddy Juarez was retained as head coach for the current campaign, with the 43-year-old under significant pressure to deliver a better season this time around.
The Claret and Cobalt look on the edge of doing so as things stand, currently lying outside of the playoff positions by virtue of an inferior head-to-head record with Portland Timbers.
Only one win in their last five games has not exactly helped Salt Lake's position in the table, although a defeat to Los Angeles FC at the weekend was not exactly unexpected given the opposition's attacking firepower.
Juarez will desperately be hoping for a better performance and result in USA's second-most populous city on Wednesday.
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Team News
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LA Galaxy are likely to remain without former Manchester United striker Javier Hernandez due to a calf injury, but the 33-year-old could return before the end of July.
Sega Coulibaly, however, will be in the treatment room a little longer with his groin issue.
Salt Lake, meanwhile, will almost certainly travel without Zack Farnsworth and Jeizon Ramirez due to leg injuries.
Midfielders Justin Meram and Pablo Ruiz must be careful as they are one caution away from incurring a one-match suspension.
Los Angeles Galaxy possible starting lineup:
Bond; Araujo, DePuy, Williams, Villafana; Vazquez, Raveloson, Kljestan; Grandsir, Zubak, Cabral
Real Salt Lake possible starting lineup:
Ochoa; Herrera, Glad, Silva, Toia; Luiz, Ruiz; Meram, Kreilach, Rusnak; Rubin
We say: Los Angeles Galaxy 2-1 Real Salt Lake
We expect a hard-fought victory for LA Galaxy, who have a little more individual quality than the visitors.
However, Salt Lake did show signs of improvement during their narrow defeat to Los Angeles at the weekend, so they certainly have enough about them to be competitive at the very least.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Real Salt Lake win with a probability of 49.31%. A win for Los Angeles Galaxy had a probability of 25.45% and a draw had a probability of 25.2%.
The most likely scoreline for a Real Salt Lake win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.41%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.42%) and 2-0 (8.95%). The likeliest Los Angeles Galaxy win was 0-1 (7.65%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12%). The actual scoreline of 2-2 was predicted with a 5% likelihood.
