After last week’s debacle of a game, listless Toronto come to town. LA will hope to get back to winning ways after the scoreless draw last week while Toronto will be looking for their first win in a month. On paper, LA would look the favorite as far as skill goes. Should be an easy win against a struggling opponent at HDC? Right? Maybe not so easy as one may think.
With the loss of Juninho due to a wedding on top of Landon Donovan, you will be hard pressed to find creativity or ball possession on the squad. On top of that, the Galaxy forwards are still having problems scoring and creating chances even with a full strength squad. With the required changes in the squad, player chemistry will be at a premium. It is also hard to say whether Beckham’s service will be put to good use after seeing last week’s performance, but that may be where the game is won and lost this week. Do not be surprised if the Galaxy struggle again against TFC, even if TFC has been reeling with its own lack of offense AND defense as of late. I still expect a win because even with the lack of offense, Galaxy still have weapons that I can’t seen Toronto being able to match.
However, this match will not be a walk in the park…or center.
Predictions
LA 1 – TFC 0
(Scorer: Barrett)
Projected Roster –
FW: Barrett, Lopez
MF: Magee, Beckham, Stephens, Birchall
D: Dunivant, DeLaGarza, Gonzalez, Franklin
GK: Ricketts
Subs: Perk, Cristman, Kirovski, Cardozo, Hejduk, Angel (if ready to go)/Berhalter (If Angel is a no go)
(image courtesy of German Alegria/LA Galaxy)
