Kante
PREMIER
FYI, I did a similar write-up for the 05 LAFC v LAG game and was pinged by a couple of folks asking about the 04 match. Had a couple of minutes last evening, so here’s the 04 LAFC vs LAG preview.
The 04 LAFC (home) vs LA Galaxy (away) rematch is coming up this weekend, and, heads-up upfront, this is a longer post.
Here’s the predict: LAFC 5 vs LA Galaxy 1.
Here’s why:
1) The 04 LAFC team is better than the 04 LA Galaxy team.
Apologies for being blunt, but there’s good reasons why LAFC is ranked as the #1 by TopDrawer Soccer (I don’t always agree with TopDrawer’s rankings – lots of bias towards east coast teams but that’s a different topic)
LAFC has the #2 offense in the country and typically scores more than twice as many goals as their opponent, on average, typically allows.
And LAFC has the #5 defense in the country, only allowing their opponents to score half of the goals they, on average, typically score.
For example, LAFC beat SD Surf (the next highest TopDrawer ranked SoCal team that LAFC has played) by a score of 4-1. On average, SD Surf scores 3.63 goals per game while only allowing 1.63 goals. I’ll let you do the math on this.
LA Galaxy is good but not great. Their offense is #17 in the country, and they score about 40% more goals than their opponents typically allow.
On defense, the LA Galaxy is a middle of the road #63 in the country and allow opponents to score whatever their average number of goals scored per game that they usually score.
2) LA Galaxy has a dependency on one player - new to the team this year after two years with the Strikers - for almost 1/2 of their offense, and on whom the LAFC can/will focus.
#10 on the LA Galaxy has accounted for 45% of LA galaxy’s goals scored despite missing one game against the Strikers.
With one of the best defenses in the country, LAFC will likely be aware of the challenge presented by LA Galaxy’s #10 and game plan accordingly.
Conversely, 14 of 17 LAFC's field players has scored at least one goal this season, and eight players account for 80% of all goals scored.
For reference, the last time LA Galaxy played LAFC the score was 2-4, and #10 scored but it was on a penalty kick in the 76th minute.
Here’s keys to the game:
1) Can LA Galaxy contain LAFC in the first ten minutes?
Per the USSDA game reports, in LAFC’s last six games, they have scored more than 20% of their goals in the first ten minutes of the game, so withstanding this initial blitz will be LA Galaxy’s first hurdle.
LA Galaxy has not allowed a single goal to be scored in the first ten minutes of any of their 2018-19 games, so this first ten minutes should be a battle. (LAFC – challenge accepted?)
2. What’s happens after halftime?
LAFC will come hard again right after halftime, with more than 20% of their goals across the 2018-19 season coming in the first ten minutes after the half. LAFC tends to regroup in minutes 51 to 60 and then make one last big push for goals in the final 20 minutes of the game.
For reference, last time these teams met, both did all their scoring in the second half.
______
All said, should be a fun game to watch. Kick-off is at 5pm on Saturday at Cal State LA. Allow for about to 15-20 minutes to park and then walk to the stadium. Best of luck to both teams!
The 04 LAFC (home) vs LA Galaxy (away) rematch is coming up this weekend, and, heads-up upfront, this is a longer post.
Here’s the predict: LAFC 5 vs LA Galaxy 1.
Here’s why:
1) The 04 LAFC team is better than the 04 LA Galaxy team.
Apologies for being blunt, but there’s good reasons why LAFC is ranked as the #1 by TopDrawer Soccer (I don’t always agree with TopDrawer’s rankings – lots of bias towards east coast teams but that’s a different topic)
LAFC has the #2 offense in the country and typically scores more than twice as many goals as their opponent, on average, typically allows.
And LAFC has the #5 defense in the country, only allowing their opponents to score half of the goals they, on average, typically score.
For example, LAFC beat SD Surf (the next highest TopDrawer ranked SoCal team that LAFC has played) by a score of 4-1. On average, SD Surf scores 3.63 goals per game while only allowing 1.63 goals. I’ll let you do the math on this.
LA Galaxy is good but not great. Their offense is #17 in the country, and they score about 40% more goals than their opponents typically allow.
On defense, the LA Galaxy is a middle of the road #63 in the country and allow opponents to score whatever their average number of goals scored per game that they usually score.
2) LA Galaxy has a dependency on one player - new to the team this year after two years with the Strikers - for almost 1/2 of their offense, and on whom the LAFC can/will focus.
#10 on the LA Galaxy has accounted for 45% of LA galaxy’s goals scored despite missing one game against the Strikers.
With one of the best defenses in the country, LAFC will likely be aware of the challenge presented by LA Galaxy’s #10 and game plan accordingly.
Conversely, 14 of 17 LAFC's field players has scored at least one goal this season, and eight players account for 80% of all goals scored.
For reference, the last time LA Galaxy played LAFC the score was 2-4, and #10 scored but it was on a penalty kick in the 76th minute.
Here’s keys to the game:
1) Can LA Galaxy contain LAFC in the first ten minutes?
Per the USSDA game reports, in LAFC’s last six games, they have scored more than 20% of their goals in the first ten minutes of the game, so withstanding this initial blitz will be LA Galaxy’s first hurdle.
LA Galaxy has not allowed a single goal to be scored in the first ten minutes of any of their 2018-19 games, so this first ten minutes should be a battle. (LAFC – challenge accepted?)
2. What’s happens after halftime?
LAFC will come hard again right after halftime, with more than 20% of their goals across the 2018-19 season coming in the first ten minutes after the half. LAFC tends to regroup in minutes 51 to 60 and then make one last big push for goals in the final 20 minutes of the game.
For reference, last time these teams met, both did all their scoring in the second half.
______
All said, should be a fun game to watch. Kick-off is at 5pm on Saturday at Cal State LA. Allow for about to 15-20 minutes to park and then walk to the stadium. Best of luck to both teams!
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