Sports Mole previews Saturday’s MLS clash between Austin FC and Los Angeles Galaxy, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
A disastrously out-of-form Los Angeles Galaxy will travel to take on Austin FC at the Q2 Stadium for a match that could see them hit the bottom of the MLS table.
Los Verdes will be looking to bounce back from defeat last time out, while Los Angelinos will be desperate for their first win of the league campaign.
Match preview
© Imago
Nico Estevez‘s Austin closed out March with three wins on the bounce against Los Angeles FC, San Diego and St Louis City, but they are awaiting their first victory of April after dropping five points so far this month.
Most recently, Los Verdes followed up a drab 0-0 draw at home to the Portland Timbers with a 5-1 thrashing at the hands of top-of-the-table Vancouver Whitecaps, and considering that their opponents had almost three times as many shots on target as his team, Estevez will be hoping that it was a defensive blip after they had kept three clean sheets in the prior four matches.
That loss has left Austin sixth in the Western Conference and 12th overall in the table with 13 points, though victory this weekend could move them up to second in their side of MLS.
With this in mind, Saturday’s hosts will be confident of adding to their tally at Q2 Stadium given that they have lost just one of their last nine home matches, going back to last season’s loss against Houston Dynamo in September.
Should Austin manage to earn their fifth win of the 2025 campaign, then they could leapfrog Colorado Rapids, Portland Timbers, San Diego and Minnesota United to climb up to second if results elsewhere go their way.
© Imago
Meanwhile, Greg Vanney‘s LA Galaxy have been exceptionally poor across the opening eight matches of their MLS campaign, and their zero wins makes for hard reading for fans.
Last time out, Los Angelinos earned a point at Dignity Health Sports Park in a 1-1 draw against 13th-placed Houston Dynamo, and despite dropping two points, the manager will be encouraged by the character his team showed to come from behind and hold out with 10 men.
That stalemate took Vanney’s side to a paltry three points for the season, and only Montreal, who are bottom of the Eastern Conference, have fewer than the Western bottom-club’s tally.
If fans are looking for hope ahead of the trip to the Q2, they should avoid looking at the visitors’ away record that features zero wins since November and four defeats from their last six on the road.
However, if LA Galaxy can somehow earn their first win of 2025, then they could end the matchweek ahead of both Sporting KC and Houston, but anything less may see them fall to the overall bottom of the MLS table if Montreal can better their result.
Austin FC MLS form:
Los Angeles Galaxy MLS form:
Los Angeles Galaxy form (all competitions):
Team News
Austin are likely to be without right-back Mikkel Desler once again as he works his way back from a muscle injury, so expect to see Jon Gallagher line up alongside Julio Cascante, Brendan Hines-Ike and Guilherme Biro as part of Estevez’s defence.
Elsewhere, midfielder Daniel Pereira, who netted his side’s consolation goal against the Whitecaps, should be partnered by Besard Sabovic in the centre of the park this weekend.
As for LA Galaxy, former Brentford centre-back Mathias Jorgensen will sit out Saturday’s game after being sent off against Houston, and Eriq Zavaleta could join Carlos Garces at the heart of Vanney’s backline, with Maya Yoshida likely unavailable through injury.
Long-term absentee Riqui Puig will also not feature on Saturday as he recovers from an anterior cruciate ligament injury that has kept him out since December last year, while the veteran Marco Reus has not featured since early March and looks set to miss out once again.
Austin FC possible starting lineup:
Stuver; Gallagher, Cascante, Hines-Ike, Guilherme Biro; Wolff, Pereira, Sabovic, Bukari; Uzuni, Vazquez
Los Angeles Galaxy possible starting lineup:McCarthy; Yamane, Garces, Zavaleta, Nelson; Sanabria, Cerillo; Pec, Fagundez, Paintsil; Ramirez
We say: Austin FC 2-0 Los Angeles Galaxy
Although Austin were thrashed last time out, they were up against the top-of-the-division Whitecaps, while they face bottom-of-the-West Galaxy this weekend.
The hosts will be keen to get back to winning ways and their defensive solidity could make it difficult for the struggling Los Angelinos to find their footing.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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