It’s their first double-game week of the season, but the LA Galaxy are in good form, and on Saturday, they’ll face a new opponent, in third-year foe Nashville SC, at Dignity Health Sports Park.
The Galaxy, in league play, most recently played to a scoreless draw at the Chicago Fire last weekend. Both teams prioritized defense, they more or less both played for a point, and that’s what they got. Then on Tuesday, LA got back into the U.S. Open Cup after a two-year hiatus in the competition, with a 1-0 win over USL Championship outfit San Diego Loyal, Kevin Cabral scoring a goal in slightly fluke fashion, but even balls that clang off one’s shin after they are shot into the post count when they go in the net.
Nashville did not play midweek, as they got a bye in the Open Cup, and their most recent game was a wild 2-2 draw against the San Jose Earthquakes, coincidentally Matias Almeyda’s final game as Quakes coach. Nashville took the lead twice but were pegged back twice, the result once again exposing Nashville’s biggest issue: In the run of play, they’re a great defensive team, but they’re terrible at defending on dead ball situations. Can LA capitalize?
This will be Nashville’s final road game to open the season, as they’ll open their new stadium next weekend, so this could be the equivalent to the final concert on a long tour. Sometimes, the act is great as they want to end the run on a high, or sometimes they’re just exhausted and want it to be over. If it’s the latter, I’m sure the Galaxy won’t mind, but I don’t know if that should be the expectation, Nashville have been pretty good on this road trip, honestly. We’ll see what this debut meeting between the clubs has in store.
Injuries/absences
LA:
- Jorge Villafaña (knee) — OUT
- Adam Saldaña (ankle) — OUT
- Victor Vazquez (upper leg) — OUT
Nashville:
- Teal Bunbury (knee) — OUT
- Robert Castellanos (ankle) — OUT
- Irakoze Donasiyano (thigh) — OUT
Odds:
According to our friends at DraftKings Sportsbook, as of Thursday afternoon, LA are (-105), Nashville are (+295) and a draw is at (+255). LA gets favored pretty healthily here, but we’ll see what happens.
How to Watch:
Saturday’s match between LA and Nashville SC will be televised locally on Spectrum SportsNet and streamed in the rest of the United States on ESPN+. The TV broadcast is scheduled to start at 7:30 pm PT with kickoff to follow at 7:38 pm.