7:45 pm, Prime Ticket, Noche Latina at Home Depot Center
The Los Angeles Galaxy haven't lost in seven games and haven't lost in four and a half. The club puts all that on the line as they host Toronto FC Saturday night at the Home Depot Center. The original Los Angeles MLS club played a red clad DC United last week to a nil-nil draw, while the Toronto football club also played to a scoreless draw in it's last match. Toronto hosted Sporting Kansas City last week; Kansas City were finishing out their ten game road stretch before opening Livestrong Park on Thursday.
The Galaxy were already down Landon Donovan last weekend, when they turned out a lackluster effort. Now they'll also be without Juninho, who is getting married in Brazil on Saturday. It's likely that David Beckham will wear the captain's band, and that he'll be joined in the middle by Mike Magee, Chris Birchall, and Michael Stephens. Juan Pablo Angel is also likely to miss Saturday's match with his right calf strain, making a Birchall-Lopez pairing up top. The Birchall-Lopez pairing was the first forward combination to register a multi-goal game this season. Also worth noting is that David Beckham will be suspended with his next yellow card. (There was a mistake in the game guide, David Beckham needs two yellow cards before he'll be suspended.
Not only must the Galaxy improve on their effort from last week, but their form needs a great tweak as well. The last time these two teams got together, the Galaxy hit the woodwork three times on the way to a nil-nil draw. Josh Saunders and Chris Birchall were the two changes last week from the team that won 0-1 in New England, replacing the players away on International Duty. Somehow this club will need to shake off last week's match, despite getting back none of the pieces that were missing.