After a FIFA international break, the LA Galaxy are looking to continue their momentum to help propel them into one of the final playoff spots in the Western Conference. Only two matches remain in their season, and they must win them both to have a chance to qualify.
Playoff scenarios
Only four teams remain in the hunt for the final two playoff spots in the Western Conference: the Portland Timbers (5th place, 51 points), Real Salt Lake (6th place, 49 points), the LA Galaxy (7th place, 45 points) and the Vancouver Whitecaps (8th place, 43 points).
FiveThirtyEight has the Galaxy with a 17-percent chance of making the playoffs. The Portland Timbers are at 99 percent, Real Salt Lake at 85 percent and the Vancouver Whitecaps at less than 1 percent.
Real Salt Lake is the easiest team for the Galaxy to catch, but even that will be a challenge. LA must win both remaining matches, and get help from Portland. In an interesting twist of fate, Real Salt Lake’s final match of the season will be against the Portland Timbers this Sunday. RSL is the odd team out and will not play on Decision Day next week.
In the simplest scenario, if Portland defeats RSL on Sunday and the Galaxy win their two remaining matches, the Galaxy will earn the final spot in the MLS Cup Playoffs.
An RSL win wouldn’t necessarily mean the Galaxy can’t make the playoffs, but the situation gets a little trickier. Portland would also need to lose its other remaining match, a Decision Day standoff against the Vancouver Whitecaps, which would then push Portland and LA into a tiebreaker.
MLS tiebreaker rules go first with number of wins, then goal differential (GD), then goals for (GF). In this scenario, both teams would be tied in wins, so GD would most likely be the deciding factor. Currently, the Galaxy have a +1 GD and the Portland Timbers have a +4 GD. However, with two matches each, goal differential can change quite a bit by then.
This week, the Galaxy cannot yet secure a playoff spot on their own, but can only be eliminated by way of a loss or a draw against Minnesota United.
Kinnear framed the situation perfectly: “We need to get points. It doesn’t matter if they win or they lose both of their games, we have to do something. We have to do something positive.”
Injury updates
Thursday after training, head coach Dom Kinnear gave brief updates regarding the status of injured players. Bradford Jamieson IV is expected to return to the squad this week, while Chris Pontius is out for the remainder of the season. Giovani Dos Santos, who has been unavailable for “five and a half or six weeks,” per Kinnear, is still practicing on the side individually.
“He’s getting closer,” Kinnear said of Dos Santos. “I think next week we start the conversation of him joining the squad, because right now he’s still doing stuff on the side and making sure his fitness is right and that he can run without pain. That’s the first and foremost, the most important thing. And then once he gets through that and feels good about his recovery, then he’ll come join us.”
Preparing for Minnesota
LA Galaxy players and staff know all too well the importance of their upcoming matches.
“I think we are all clear on what we have to do,” said forward Ola Kamara. “We have to win these two games, and I think we’re just loading up energy for the games and we prepare well. I think training has been going good, so I think Sunday is going to be good for us.”
Forward Zlatan Ibrahimović has said that he will be playing, despite his prior avoidance of turf surfaces in the league.
“I don’t care. I don’t focus on that,” Ibrahimović said of playing on turf. “I’ll go. I’ll play my game. It’s the first time I will play on turf, let’s say. But I will not focus on that. I will focus on the game, on my teammates and make the best out of the situation.”