Toronto FC will travel south to California to take on the Los Angeles Galaxy Saturday night in a battle of two clubs sitting third place in their respective conferences.

The Canadians have struggled against their American counterparts for several years now, going 0-4-5 since their last victory over the Galaxy, a 2-0 victory on May 21, 2008 at BMO Field. In the last meeting between the two teams, L.A. ran away 3-0 winners.

If Toronto are to put an end to their struggles against the Galaxy, they’ll have to do it without several starters, making the task that much harder. Americans Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore along with Canadians Ashtone Morgan and Jonathan Osorio will all be absent due to international duty as their countries prepare for the upcoming Gold Cup.

Toronto will also be without forward Luke Moore who did not travel with the squad due to a death in his family. Some good news for the Reds, however, is that midfielder Benoit Cheyrou did make the trip after missing the team’s two previous fixtures as a result of a calf injury.

L.A. will also be affected by the tournament with Omar Gonzalez and Gyasi Zardes also leaving for the American squad and goalkeeper Jamie Penedo with Panam, while Alan Gordon is suspended.

Despite their roller coaster season, the Galaxy have made StubHub Center a fortress; Bruce Arena’s men have gone 7-1-2 this season at home.

Justin Morrow is the likely candidate to start at left back for Toronto, with Warren Creavalle to slot in for Morgan at right back. Damien Perquis and Eriq Zavaleta seem to have built a solid partnership and are the expected duo to man the centre of Toronto’s backline.

With the amount of star power missing for both teams, Robbie Keane and Sebastian Giovinco will lock horns in a battle of two forwards hoping to lead their sides to victory.

Toronto have lost just once in their previous seven MLS matches and will look to continue that run while the Galaxy will hope to rebound from their 3-1 defeat at the hands of the San Jose Earthquakes.

Former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard will officially be unveiled to the Galaxy faithful with a halftime presentation Saturday. Fortunately for Greg Vanney’s side, Gerrard will have to wait to make his MLS debut as he cannot play until after the transfer window in North America opens on July 8th.

However, Vanney’s men will move on to New York after L.A. where they will run into Gerrard’s former England teammate Frank Lampard. Lampard is scheduled to make his debut for New York City FC when they meet Toronto on July 12th at Yankee Stadium.

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About the author
Bassil Thayabeh
Bassil is a sports journalist covering the latest in sports news for VAVEL USA, predominantly over seeing the Toronto franchises and other Canadian sports. Bassil has also featured for United Report and FutbolPulse.