Preview, Matchday 12: MNUFC vs LA Galaxy

Minnesota United meets the LA Galaxy for the first of two matches the teams play against each other in 2022. Minnesota has been struggling recently as they have lost their last three in a row and are 2-0-3 in their last five matches. The Loons currently sit in 10th place in the Western Conference with 14 points. MNUFC will have to work hard this week as this is the second in a series of 5 games in 15 days.

Opposition:

For the first time in 2022, the Loons face the Los Angeles Galaxy. LA enters the weeknight match with a 6-1-4 record and 19 points to earn themselves fourth place in the standings. The Galaxy are 2-1-2 in their last five matches but have only scored three goals over that time period. Chicharito leads the club with five goals in eleven appearances, however no other player has more than two goals. Goalkeeper Jonathan Bond has done a fairly decent job in front of the net, only allowing 10 goals over 11 matches and making 22 saves.

Manager/Player Thoughts:

“I think if you look at the way they play, for everybody, the home field advantage is where you have to make them pay. I’m more concerned with ourselves. Our last couple of games, I look at the Cincinnati game, I don’t know how many chances we had on the night, but it was an awful lot,” said Adrian Heath. “Even against Seattle before that, for the last hour we were by far the better team. We’ve just got to play our normal game. Move the ball quickly, put them on their back-foot, play in their half of the field, work the penalty area, work the final-third, and if we do that as well as we can then we will be difficult to play against. Especially at Allianz.”

Wil Trapp said about the Galaxy, “You have to look at the attacking quality. The players they have out wide. Chicha [Chicharito] always in the box is going to poach things. They get good service. Between Raheem [Edwards] and [Julian] Araujo on the other side, they do a really good job of trying to put you in awkward positions when you’re defending the penalty areas, so that’s a part of their game that is very strong. In saying that, they leave themselves open with how freely they attack. For us, it’s understanding that there’s going to be moments where we’re exposing them going the other way. We have to hold on to the ball and not allow it to become this ebb-and-flow, back-and-forth.”

Injury Report:

Minnesota United FC

Questionable: None

Out: Hassani Dotson (knee, Out for the Season), Niko Hansen (lower body), Justin McMaster (shoulder), Romain Métanire (thigh), and Patrick Weah (knee, Out for the Season)

LA Galaxy

Questionable: None

Out: Adam Saldaña (left ankle), Jorge Villafaña (knee, Out for the Season)