Saturday's battle between the bottom two teams in the MLS Western Conference could be the last chance for St. Louis City and the Los Angeles Galaxy to have any chance of reaching the playoffs, in a clash that promises to be very tense at Energizer Park.
St. Louis City continues to drop points after taking the lead
Unfortunately for their usually fanatical supporters, St. Louis City are dropping a lot of points this season after opening the scoring. Against the Portland Timbers, it was the fifth time that victory has failed to materialize after opening the scoring, with 13 points having been thrown away this way all year.
At least St. Louis will have the opportunity to win back-to-back home games for the first time this season. And the team's only strength has practically come in games at Energizer Park, with nine of the 14 points having been earned this way. Saturday will mark the sixth all-time meeting against the Galaxy, and St Louis are unbeaten against them, having won exactly this fixture last year 2-1.
In the defeat to the Timbers, St Louis were without Rasmus Alm due to a sore hip, and Joakim Nilsson had to sit out with a knee injury. However, expectations are high for the performance of Akil Watts, who scored his first goal of the MLS season.
LA Galaxy gain new hope to dream of playoffs
Greg Vanney's side finally managed to win without conceding a goal in the regular season, their first away win since August 2024, when they beat Atlanta United 2-0. Still, the quest for the post-season remains very difficult, with 15 points below the playoff line.
However, Los Angeles Galaxy will need to put an end to another negative statistic that has plagued their campaign this season, as all of their last six regular season games as visitors have ended in defeat. Their last win came in October 2024, a 3-1 victory over the Colorado Rapids.
Marco Reuls sat out the game against RSL with a muscle strain and Riqui Puig is out again as he recovers from a cruciate ligament rupture. So all hopes are pinned on Lucas Sanabria and Joseph Paintsill, who scored the winning goals in the last match.