Los Angeles Football Club vs. New York City FC | 2018 MLS Match Preview

Dylan Butler

LAFC vs. NYCFC
2018 MLS Regular Season – Week 11
Banc of California Stadium — Los Angeles
May 13 - 8:30 pm ET
WATCH: FS1, MLS LIVE on DAZN (Canada)

Looking for MLS LIVE? It's now on ESPN+. Sign up for a free trial!

New York City FC will attempt to pick themselves off the deck after being hammered by the New York Red Bulls, 4-0, last week at Red Bull Arena. But it won’t be easy as expansion side LAFC enter this first-ever encounter with four wins in their five matches without a loss, including two wins and a draw at Banc of California Stadium.

LAFC

Bob Bradley went with an unchanged starting XI from the side that tied FC Dallas, 1-1, last Saturday as LAFC (6-2-1) enjoyed some home cooking to defeat Minnesota United FC, 2-0, Wednesday night.

Making his second start, 20-year-old Colombian Eduard Atuesta opened the scoring with his first MLS goal and Mark-Anthony Kaye opened his account six minutes later to give LAFC a 2-0 lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

“Tonight there’s enough good football to make us all feel like the things we’re doing are good things,” Bradley said after the match. “And there’s enough that needs to be improved that we’ll all show up and keep working starting probably in about an hour when we’re all home watching the game again.”

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

Projected Starting XI
(4-2-3-1, right to left)
GK: Tyler Miller — Steven Beitashour, Walker Zimmerman, Laurent Ciman, Jordan Harvey — Eduard Atuesta, Benny Feilhaber — Latif Blessing, Marc-Anthony Kaye, Carlos Vela — Diego Rossi

Notes: LAFC average 17.6 shots and 6.2 shots on target per game, second and third most in the league respectively. … LAFC are unbeaten in their three home games this season, conceding just one goal (2W-1D). Despite playing just three home games, their two home clean sheets are tied for the third most in the league.

NYCFC

“Unacceptable” and “embarrassing” were two words used to describe the performance in a 4-0 loss to the New York Red Bulls as NYCFC (6-2-2) didn’t match their rivals' intensity and were played off the field in a humbling blowout.

Considering the body of work during the season and what he saw at a spirited training session that followed gives NYCFC coach Patrick Vieira, who utilized an unchanged XI from a 3-1 win over FC Dallas the previous week, a reason to believe the loss was a one-off.

“Players are coming back with more determination, more focus,” Vieira said. “I’ve seen the attitude I was expecting. I saw players who were hurt, disappointed by their performances and want to react. There is not a better game than going to LA than to show how strong we are as a team.”

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: M - Alex Ring
International duty: None
Injury Report: None

Projected Starting XI
(4-2-3-1, right to left)
GK: Sean Johnson — Saad Abdul-Salaam, Alex Callens, Sebastien Ibeagha, Ben Sweat — Alex Ring, Ebenezer Ofori — Jesus Medina, Maxi Moralez, Ismael Tajouri-Shradi — David Villa

Notes: Jesus Medina has five assists on 12 chances created this season. His five assists are tied for the fourth-most in the league. His 12 chances created are the second-fewest of any player with at least five assists. … NYCFC have lost their last two road games by a combined 7-0 scoreline. NYCFC had previously lost just two of their last 11 road games (4W-5D).