Preview: Vancouver Whitecaps vs. Los Angeles FC - prediction, team news, lineups

Two MLS sides looking to get into the Western Conference playoff places meet on Saturday night as the Vancouver Whitecaps take on Los Angeles FC at BC Place.

The hosts are slowly climbing up the league standings, while their opponents have been slipping down them, and it should be a fascinating battle this weekend.

Match preview

© Reuters

Vancouver finally ended their run of five consecutive draws with a win away at Austin FC on Wednesday.

Marc Dos Santos's side went behind initially when Austin captain Alex Ring headed the hosts in front, but the Caps regrouped at half time and equalised early in the second half.

Jon Gallagher and Tomas Pochettino spurned chances to restore the lead for the Verde & Black, only for Vancouver to then catch them on the break, with Brian White able to finish into an empty net to seal a 2-1 victory.

Whilst the run of draws was not ideal, it did keep them ticking over, and with this win the team now finds themselves up to 11th in the table, just four points off the playoff positions and technically unbeaten in seven games.

They will now fancy their chances at home to a team who appear to be going in the opposite direction.

© Reuters

The three consecutive wins back in July must feel like a lifetime ago now for Bob Bradley and his team, as they are winless in the six games since and come into this match on a run of three consecutive losses - both unwanted records for the fairly new franchise.

That form has seen them slip from what looked like a safe bet for a solid playoff position down to eighth, and the team now face the prospect of missing out on the playoffs for the first time since joining the MLS in 2018.

The latest loss came on Sunday away at Atlanta United, where a Josef Martinez goal proved to be the difference as the Black and Gold produced a large number of shots - 16 to Atlanta's nine - but got just three on target.

Bradley must be frustrated with the lack of consistency shown by his team all year, especially given their talent level on paper, and at the moment they look like a broken side.

Whilst they can take inspiration from the fact that they beat their upcoming opponents 6-0 and 6-1 in two of their four previous meetings, the most recent two have resulted in a Caps win and a 2-2 draw.

Team News

© Reuters

Vancouver's Javain Brown and Janio Bikel recovered from knocks last weekend and were fit enough to play the full 90 minutes of the midweek game, as was Cristian Dajome who had been limited to a substitute appearance during the previous game.

They remain without one of their main goalscoring threats, though, in Lucas Cavallini, who will be out for the next six weeks with a knee injury, and defender Cristian Gutierrez, who remains sidelined with a left quad strain.

LA have lost defender Eddie Segura for the rest of the year with a right knee injury, and Kwadwo Opoku is also out - for a shorter period, at least - with a knee problem.

Bradley experimented with a back four briefly against the San Jose Earthquakes but returned to his favoured 3-4-3 formation against Atlanta, with Mamadou Fall, Jesus David Marillo and Tristan Blackmon the defensive three.

Vancouver Whitecaps possible starting lineup:

Crepeau; Nerwinski, Rose, Vesilinovic, Brown; Bikel, Owusu, Teibert; Dajome, Caicedo, White

Los Angeles FC possible starting lineup:

Romero; Fall, Blackmon, Murillo; Farfan, Palacios, Atuesta, Blessing; Rossi, Arango, Vela

We say: Vancouver Whitecaps 1-2 Los Angeles FC

It may go against the form book taking everything into consideration, but we just have a feeling for LAFC in this match and believe that they will shade a close contest to pick up an extremely important three points.