The forecast is decidely mixed for the Vancouver Whitecaps: Clear skies with a 100 percent chance of facing a top MLS team.
Three days after their game against the last-place Colorado Rapids was postponed because of torrential rain and lightning in the Denver area, the Whitecaps will be in a predicament of a different kind when they visit first-place and defending champion Los Angeles FC.
The Whitecaps (5-5-7, 22 points) enter on a three-game unbeaten run, including a 1-1 tie June 10 against Eastern Conference-leading FC Cincinnati.
Vancouver’s Ryan Gauld has scored in each of the last three games, moving him closer to the club’s top two goal scorers in Simon Becher (four goals) and Brian White (six).
But Vancouver is also winless over its last 15 road games (0-8-7) and has not won away from home in an MLS game since June 18 of last season. The Whitecaps are the only Western Conference team without a road win this season.
“We know there’s differences in the quality that we play the game (home) and away,” Whitecaps head coach Vanni Sartini said, according to the Vancouver Sun. “We need to focus on the performance. With the performance, the results will arrive … We need to have more continuity.”
LAFC (9-3-5, 32 points) have won consecutive games following a six-game winless run (0-5-1) across all competitions, losing the CONCACAF Champions League final to Leon of Mexico.
Mateusz Bogusz scored in the opening minute Wednesday at home against the Seattle Sounders, and LAFC finished off the 1-0 victory.
“Hats off to the players. They’ve done fantastic,” LAFC head coach Steve Cherundolo said. “Top of the West, played in a Champions League final, still have a game in hand, I believe, so we’re very happy with those results. Can we play better football? Absolutely, and we will.”
Denis Bouanga leads LAFC with 10 goals, tied for second in the league, while Carlos Vela has five goals and five assists.
The teams have not met in an MLS game this season, but they met twice in Champions League play in April. LAFC won 6-0 on aggregate.
The Whitecaps will be without midfielders Ali Ahmed (Canada) and Julian Gressel (United States), as well as defender Javain Brown (Jamaica), who are away on international duty. LAFC will be without defender Aaron Long (USA), while midfielder Jose Cifuentes is reportedly close to a transfer to the Rangers in Scotland.
–Field Level Media
