Los Angeles Football Club vs. DC United | 2018 MLS Match Preview

Dylan Butler

LAFC vs. D.C. United
2018 MLS Regular Season – Week 13
Banc of California Stadium — Los Angeles
May 26 - 10 pm ET
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After having a six-match unbeaten streak snapped last weekend in a 2-1 loss to the Portland Timbers, LAFC look to begin a new streak against a D.C. United squad that comes to Los Angeles confident following a 3-1 win in San Jose.

This will be the first ever meeting between the two teams. LAFC are 1W-1L-1D vs. Eastern Conference opponents so far this season, per Opta.

LAFC

Carlos Vela scored his seventh goal of the season, a curling equalizer in the 74th minute, but LAFC (6-3-2) conceded nine minutes from full time to fall to Portland, 2-1, Saturday at Providence Park.

LAFC then hosted their first international friendly Wednesday night, playing Christian Pulisic and Borussia Dortmund to a 1-1 draw at Banc of California Stadium.

“You lose a 2-1 game, you look at the pluses, you look at the minuses, D.C. had a good win in San Jose so we certainly know they come in feeling positive about what’s going on there,” Bob Bradley said after the friendly. “We’re excited to be at home again and play on a great field.”

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: None
International duty: D - Walker Zimmerman, D - Omar Gaber
Injury Report: OUT: GK - Luis Lopez (right tibial stress fracture), F - Marco Urena (facial surgery)

Projected Starting XI
(3-4-3, right to left)
GK: Tyler Miller — Dejan Jakovic, Joao Moutinho, Laurent Ciman — Steven Beitashour, Mark-Anthony Kaye, Benny Feilhaber, Jordan Harvey — Carlos Vela, Diego Rossi, Latif Blessing

Notes: LAFC faced 21 shots (second most this year) and seven shots on target (tied for the most this year) in their 2-1 loss to Portland last week. … LAFC’s 2-1 loss to the Timbers last weekend snapped a six-game unbeaten run (4W-2D). It was the fifth time in 11 regular season games that LAFC have conceded multiple goals.

D.C. United

Ben Olsen made three changes to the side that lost to Real Salt Lake, 3-2, the previous week, bringing David Ousted in to replace Steve Clark in goal, Oniel Fisher in at right back, which moved Nick DeLeon to left back in place of Joseph Mora and bringing Yamil Asad back into the midfield.

D.C. United (2-5-2) jumped on the Quakes from the opening whistle, with Zoltan Stieber, Darren Mattocks and Asad scoring inside the opening 40 minutes to give the visitors a commanding 3-0 lead.

“We’re growing as a group and still have some things we need to improve on, but we're getting better with each game,” Olsen said after the match. “At this stage of the season, it’s about grabbing points and we were able to do that today.”

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: None
International duty: None
Injury Report: OUT: D - Taylor Kemp (groin injury), M - Russell Canouse (knee injury), D - Chris Odoi-Atsem (calf injury), M - Ulises Segura (leg injury); PROBABLE: M - Junior Moreno (hamstring injury)

Projected Starting XI
(4-1-4-1, right to left)
GK: David Ousted — Oniel Fisher, Frederic Brillant, Steve Birnbaum, Nick DeLeon — Chris Durkin — Zoltan Stieber, Paul Arriola, Luciano Acosta, Yamil Asad — Darren Mattocks

Notes: Mattocks’ goal last weekend was his fourth in eight appearances this year. Last year, he had four goals in 26 MLS regular season appearances. … D.C. United won their most recent road game 3-1 against San Jose. That win snapped a 10-game road winless streak (8L-2D).