Landon Donovan may be back in Los Angeles, but his Los Angeles Galaxy are 350 miles up US 101. The Angel City Brigade and the Riot Squad will be in attendance at Buck Shaw stadium as the Galaxy renew the California Clasico with the San Jose Earthquakes. Not only will they be without Landon Donovan, but they'll likely be without David Beckham again who is still suffering from back spasms. He's listed as questionable on the injury list. San Jose also loses a man to international duty, with Chris Wondolowski with the national team in Los Angeles.
This means both clubs will be without their lead candidate for the Golden Boot. Landon Donovan is tied for the league lead with eight goals while Wondolowski is one of three with six. David Beckham leads the league in game winning assists. Luckily the Galaxy have had several offensive weapons turn up this season. Juninho and Chad Barrett have both had two game winning goals, including Junino's game winner last Saturday.
San Jose hasn't slunk back without Wondolowski. While they lost their last match, that loss broke a six game unbeaten streak. The 0-1 loss at Sporting Kansas City doesn't change the fact that they've won their last three home matches. Since Wondolowski left for international duty, Steve Lenhart has picked up the slack, scoring 4 goals over the last three matches. Simon Dawson also scored in back to back games before they were shut out in Kansas City.
The Galaxy are riding a long nine game unbeaten streak; with so much attention being paid to their home match on July 4th and so little attention being paid to this trip to San Jose, this has all the making of a trap game. The California Clasico is scheduled as the opening act for the Gold Cup headliner on Fox Soccer Channel. This Galaxy squad has shown they can rise to the occasion without David Beckham and Landon Donovan. Now they'll have to show they can do it with the spotlight on, even if it's only to warm up the stage for someone else.