Preview: Los Angeles FC vs Sporting Kansas City - prediction, team news, lineups

Los Angeles FC will host Sporting Kansas City at BMO Stadium on Saturday as the two sides continue their 2026 MLS regular-season campaign.

The hosts head into the contest fifth in the Western Conference standings with 30 points, while Sporting KC have endured a difficult season and sit 28th in the overall MLS table with just 14 points.

Match preview

Playing in front of their home fans for the first time in nearly two months, LAFC collected their second consecutive victory since returning from the FIFA World Cup break by defeating Real Salt Lake 3-1 at BMO Stadium on Wednesday night.

Former Tottenham Hotspur forward Son Heung-min and Denis Bouanga both scored in the first half to put the Black & Gold in control before a DeAndre Yedlin own goal in the 68th minute completed the scoring for LAFC, despite Lukas Engel netting a late consolation in the 86th minute.

The victory, their third in a row, lifted LAFC to fifth in the Western Conference standings with 30 points, nine behind leaders Nashville despite having played a game more, and also marked their second three-match winning streak of the league campaign after opening the season with four successive victories.

Head coach Marc Dos Santos will now turn his attention to Saturday's meeting with Sporting Kansas City, a fixture LAFC have dominated in recent years.

The Black & Gold are currently on a seven-match winning streak against Sporting Kansas City in all competitions, with their last failure to win this fixture coming in June 2021 during a run of three consecutive defeats.

Sporting Kansas City returned from the FIFA World Cup break with a valuable 2-1 victory over Minnesota United at Children's Mercy Park on Thursday, securing all three points in their first home match since the league resumed.

Goals from Dejan Joveljic and Manu Garcia in either half guided Sporting to only their second home victory of the season and earned Raphael Wicky's side a much-needed three points.

The result was also just their fourth league win of a difficult campaign, one in which they have already suffered 10 defeats.

The Wizards have won three and lost three of their last six MLS matches and will be aiming to record back-to-back league victories for only the second time this season.

Sporting have scored just four goals across their last seven meetings with LAFC, losing each of those encounters against this weekend's opponents.

Los Angeles FC Major League Soccer form:

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Sporting Kansas City Major League Soccer form:

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Team News

LAFC are expected to be without Amin Boudri, Igor Jesus and Sergi Palencia, who are all sidelined with leg injuries, while Timothy Tillman remains a doubt due to a leg problem.

The attacking partnership of Denis Bouanga and Son Heung-min has begun to flourish, with both players finding the back of the net in each of LAFC's last two matches.

Sporting Kansas City are expected to be without Taylor Calheira (ankle), Diego Borges (quad) and Justin Reynolds (hamstring).

Emir Karic, who recently joined from Sturm Graz, is pushing to make his first start for Sporting after making his debut from the bench against Minnesota United.

Los Angeles FC possible starting lineup:

Lloris; Hollingshead, Porteous, Tafari, Cheberko; Segura, Choiniere, Delgado; Bouanga, Son, Shaffelburg

Sporting Kansas City possible starting lineup:

Cleveland; Davis, Blorian, Meyer, Karic;Berg Johnsen, Bassong, Garcia; Capemba, Harris, Joveljic

We say: Los Angeles FC 3-0 Sporting Kansas City

LAFC have returned from the FIFA World Cup break in excellent form, and with Son Heung-min and Denis Bouanga developing a strong understanding in attack, the Black & Gold look well placed to continue their winning run.

Sporting Kansas City have shown signs of improvement in recent weeks, but their poor record against LAFC and the hosts' impressive momentum make another comfortable home victory the most likely outcome.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.