After falling 4-1 last week to Atlanta United, the Vancouver Whitecaps are looking to get back in the win column. The same can be said for the Los Angeles Galaxy, who fell 2-1 to New York City FC two weeks ago.
The question running through all Whitecaps fans minds is, who will fill the void left by captain Kendall Waston? He is reportedly on international duty with his native country Costa Rica. However, head coach Sigi Schmid might walk into BC Place minus almost a dozen players because of suspension, injury, and call-ups.
Team Preview: Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Waston was shown a red card in last weeks loss in the 13th minute, which the club appealed on earlier in the week. That changed the course of the game and made way for an easy Atlanta win.
Erik Hurtado scored the lone goal for Caps, only five minutes from the final whistle. Vancouver will be without Waston and young striker Myer Bevan (New Zealand) due to international duty. Striker Kei Kamara is listed as questionable with a groin injury.
Good news, though, midfielder Alphonso Davies was not selected to Canada's first team, so he will most likely get the start this weekend.
Projected Lineup: 4-1-4-1 - Head Coach: Carl Robinson
Marinovic
Nerwinski--Aja--Maund--de Jong
Teibert
Davies--Felipe--Juarez--Reyna
Kamara
Team Preview: LA Galaxy
After having a week off, the Galaxy should be able to get some fresh legs in action this weekend. However, they will need to fill vacant spots left behind.
Ashley Cole is serving his one-game suspension after being awarded a second yellow card in their loss to NYCFC. Giovani dos Santos and Michael Ciani also left that game due to injury.
Jonathan dos Santos has a tweaked hamstring. It's the same injury Romain Alessandrini and Joao Pedro are recovering from.
Meanwhile, Chris Pontius is out with a lower back problem, Perry Kitchen is out with an MCL injury, and Bradford Jamieson IV is out with a concussion.
A lot, right?
Well, there's more.
Ola Kamara (Norway) and Emrah Klimenta (Montenegro) are with their respective countries.
Right now, Schmid is sitting at home hoping nobody else gets injured while playing FIFA all night, or gets called as an emergency backup to their national team because LA is left with absolutely nobody.
Projected Lineup 4-2-3-1 - Head Coach: Sigi Schmid
Bingham
Feltscher--Steres--Skjelvik--Romney
Husidic--Carrasco
Boateng--Alvarez--Lletget
Lassiter
The overall series leans in the favor of the Galaxy. Vancouver has five wins, scoring 16 goals while the Galaxy have nine wins, and scoring 27 goals. There have only been four draws between the two teams.
The referees for this match are as follows:
Referee: Fotis Bozakos
Assistant Referees: Peter Balciunas, Eric Weisbrod
4th Official: Baldomero Toledo
VAR: David Gantar