LAFC just beat the Galaxy in Carson for the first time in club history, days after cruising past the Vancouver Whitecaps to advance to the Concacaf Champions League semifinals.
On Wednesday, the squad will travel to the City of Brotherly Love to kick off a semifinal tie in an 2022 MLS Cup rematch with the Philadelphia Union. But sandwich in between, there is one short order of business – Nashville.
Despite facing a side with nothing to play for after clinching the Supporters’ Shield a week prior, Nashville is technically the last MLS team to beat LAFC with a 1-0 win on Oct. 9 at BMO Stadium.
LAFC took care of the roadtrip against a then-Western Conference foe a season ago, but the team still hasn’t recorded a league win away from home in 2023, a task made even tougher up against arguably the best defense in the league in Nashville.
A much needed breather … sort of
Five games in 16 days. Two Champions League quarterfinal legs and an El Tráfico.
Despite its best efforts to rotate over the last two weeks, LAFC has played a lot of soccer recently – and meaningful soccer at that. The full week off is the Black and Gold’s first heading into a match since their 3-0 drubbing of Austin back on April 8.
“It’s been a challenge,” LAFC coach Steve Cherundolo said. “But I think we’ve figured out what our players need to recover in order to perform in MLS matches after midweek games and especially then after a two-week, five-game stretch. So we are looking nice and fresh and good for this weekend.”
But Kellyn Acosta and Aaron Long both started and played at least 70 minutes for the United States against Mexico in the Continental Cup on Wednesday. And with two of the most important matches of the season on the horizon over the next two weeks, the week off still might not mean full tilt in Tennessee on Saturday.
“I think fitness-wise we’re fine,” Cherundolo said. “We’ve done a great job recovering… a few question marks with a few of the players that we’ll still figure out.”
It seemed Saturday’s XI against the Galaxy was the first look at what Cherundolo believes is his best starting squad in a big game. With two CCL semifinal legs up next to likely demand that same group, it’s unlikely we’ll see the same edict this weekend in Nashville.
Even so, this team has proven it has more than enough depth to continue to get results in the league no matter who is rotated in and out. Cherundolo has already started 17 players across seven league games in 2023, and with recent addition of Mateusz Bogusz, that rotation became a little bit deeper.
Goalkeeper John McCarthy was the only LAFC squad member to play the full 90 minutes in consecutive matches in that stretch, and even he got a night off – a clean sheet against Austin in a match where Denil Maldanado and Erik Jakupovic each made their first MLS starts at center back and goalkeeper respectively.
All eyes – and fresh legs – are focused on the next two weeks in the Champions League, and rightfully so. But even a rotated side this weekend will still be a well-rested one, and they have a chance to make a statement away from BMO for the first time this season.
A true test of patience
It’s that time again where we pull out the expected assisted goals allowed numbers and use it to directly predict the performance LAFC’s attack will deliver this weekend.
It’s late April – a month and a half into the season – and it has yet to lead us astray, and even amidst the chaos of an El Trafico, last weekend still proved no exception.
The Galaxy ranked well in the bottom third in xAG allowed per 90, below the likes of Austin, New England and Vancouver – each allowing the Black and Gold to find the back of the net at least three times in those meetings.
After 90 minutes Sunday, it was another three-goal barrage for the Black and Gold and another three points tacked up on the table against bottom-third opposition. The team appears to have put its offensive struggles of early April behind them, but this weekend will be the first true test of that attacking ascension.
For the first time since a March 18 trip up to Seattle, LAFC will face top-10 opposition in xAG allowed, and it’ll be the first time it squares off against a side ranked in the top five.
That mid-March tilt finished in a 0-0 stalemate at Lumen Field. LAFC has only played two other teams even in the top half of the league – a similar 0-0 draw in Colorado and a 2-1 slog against a 10-man FC Dallas side.
LAFC have failed to reach the three-goal mark in only three league contests this season, all of which were matchups with top-half teams in xAG allowed.
Nashville is conceding 0.73 xAG per 90 minutes, a nearly identical mark to the one posted by Seattle. Only the New York Red Bulls are conceding fewer xAG per game. With just four goals allowed, Nashville has conceded fewer real goals than any other club in MLS.
“We’ve seen already this year, they’re a well-coached team,” Cherundolo said. “They’re a very compact team. The team prides itself on keeping clean sheets and conceding very few chances… especially in Nashville, a team that is extremely difficult to beat.”
LAFC is flying high. The squad has scored three goals in each of its last four matches to seal a spot in the semifinals of the CCL and a first-ever road win against their archrival.
There remains one more test for this newly functioning attacking machine, a side that can legitimately defend, and that’s what awaits them Saturday night in the Music City.