KANSAS CITY – Sporting Kansas City defeated Seattle 2-1 on June 8th. This was their first win in 11 games in MLS play. The players showed lots of emotion and excitement throughout the match and especially after the game. That emotion has carried into training this week as SKC prepares to take on a stronger opponent in LA Galaxy this weekend, June 15 (Matchday 20), away from home.
Sporting does fairly well against the Galaxy, having a winning record in their most recent meetings. However, this Galaxy side is a lot different than in past years. Previously, opposing MLS teams have poked fun at LA for being a washed-up club and being the “Little Brother” to rivals, LAFC. This season is not the same. LA is currently in 4th place in the Western Conference with 28 points. A lot higher than Seattle sitting in 10th. This week will definitely be a tougher matchup for SKC.
LA Galaxy has reportedly signed former Borussia Dortmund midfielder Marco Reus. But, he has yet to officially sign or make it to LA so SKC doesn’t need to worry about him this week. Who they will have to worry about is, 2023 MLS All-Star and former FC Barcelona midfielder Riqui Puig. Puig has scored 6 goals in 16 starts thus far. That might not seem like a lot but his presence on the pitch has been shown to help La Galaxy find the back of the net 31 times in their 17 matches.
Quality Attacker, Joseph Paintsill on LA Galaxy suffered a hamstring injury in mid May and has yet to make his return. He is expected to be back rather soon but the timetable is unknown exactly which game he will return. Other than Paintsill, LA is not dealing with too many injuries and should be mostly good to go for Saturday.
Sporting KC will be back with Erik Thommy once again after he made his return from an injury last week. He played a full 90 minutes and Manager Peter Vermes was very pleased with Thommy’s performance. Vermes also mentioned in the press conference after Saturday’s match that defender, Danny Rosero should be back on the roster against LA. Bad news though for Sporting fans, SKC will be without fan favorite, Daniel Salloi, as he suffered what seemed to be a sprained ankle and will be “out a few weeks” according to Peter Vermes.
SKC will be coming off the high of the win against Seattle while LA will be coming off a rest week as they had their BYE last week. This turned out to be unsuccessful for Seattle against SKC as they also served a BYE the week before playing Sporting. SKC fans should hope the same for this week’s matchup. The match will kick off at 9:30 CT (7:30 PT) at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. The match will be streamed on Apple TV.
