The LA Galaxy will look to snap a four-game winless slide on Saturday evening when they take on the New York Red Bulls at Giants Stadium. The Galaxy are 0-2-2 over the last four games and have fallen from first place for the first time in more than a month, but will look to regain the top spot in the Western Conference with a win against New York, who is currently in last place in the Eastern Conference.
The match will kick off at 3:30 p.m. (PT) and can be seen live on Fox Soccer Channel, starting with the 'MLS Saturday' pregame show at 3 p.m. Fans can also listen to the game live on AM 570 with Joe Tutino having the call in English starting at 3:30 p.m. and on ESPN Deportes Radio 1330 AM KWKW, with Rolando Gonzalez and Celso Gaspar bringing you all the action in Spanish, beginning at 3 p.m.
Galaxy Injury Report
OUT
- Charles Alamo (R-Knee), Sean Franklin (R-Knee), Vito Higgins (R-Foot), Josh Wicks (L-Knee), Abel Xavier (L-Knee)
DOUBTFUL
- Ante Jazic (Back Spasm), Bryan Jordan (R-Hamstring), Brandon McDonald (L-Foot)
QUESTIONABLE
- Joe Franchino (L-Hamstring)
PROBABLE
- Peter Vagenas (R-Quad)
Goalkeeper Vito Higgins will miss 4-6 weeks after suffering a fracture in his right foot last week. Higgins was on the bench for the 1-1 draw with Chivas USA, with the extent of the injury being discovered on Friday morning prior to the Reserve Division game.
Abel Xavier missed the Honda SuperClasico with a left knee injury and he will be monitored throughout the week while continuing to receive treatment on his knee.
Charles Alamo and Josh Wicks have each begun the next phase of their rehabilitations following knee surgery. Each is working with Goalkeeper Coach Ian Feuer and the rest of the club's goalkeepers and will begin to participate in small-sided games.
Brandon McDonald will be monitored throughout the week and could return to training on Wednesday.
Franchino, Jazic, Jordan and Vagenas are all scheduled to train this week and will be re-evaluated later in the week prior to leaving for New York.
The Week That Was...
LA Galaxy
Thursday, July 10; Galaxy 1 - Chivas USA 1
Edson Buddle's 11th goal of the year gave the Galaxy a 1-1 draw with Chivas USA at The Home Depot Center. Chivas USA took the lead after 15 minutes through Ante Razov, but the Galaxy were able to equalize 18 minutes from the end to earn a share of the points. LA nearly claimed a winner in stoppage time, but Carlos Ruiz's right-footed effort was saved by Brad Guzan.
Galaxy Rios Under-20s
Saturday, July 12; Galaxy Rios 5 - Lancaster Rattlers 0
Sunday, July 13; Galaxy Rios 6 - Riverside MGFM 1
The Galaxy Rios U-20's moved to the brink of a league title with a pair of wins this weekend at The Home Depot Center. On Saturday, the Rios earned their fifth clean sheet of the season with a 5-0 win over Lancaster. One day later, the Rios won their second straight with a 6-1 triumph over Riverside. With the wins, the Rios record now stands at 6-2-1 for 19 points, leaving them tied at the top of the USL Super-20 Pacific Southern California League standings
Amani Walker led the way with five goals over the weekend, while Tristan Bowen added a goal in each game. The Rios now have one game left in the season and will clinch the league title with a win, tie or loss by 19 goals or less on Saturday at Riverside.
Galaxy Team Notes:
TWO AT THE TOP:
With his goal on Thursday night against Chivas USA, Edson Buddle has joined Landon Donovan at the top of the MLS scoring charts with 11 goals. Both players have 11 goals in 13 games this season, with Buddle scoring all of his 11 goals in the last nine games, tallying a pair of hat tricks in that streak. The Galaxy are 4-1-2 when Buddle scores this season and 7-3-2 all-time when he scores for the club.
With the goal on Thursday night, Buddle has tied his career-high for goals in a season with 11, a record that he first set in 2004 when he tallied 11 in 24 games as a member of the Columbus Crew. Now in his eighth MLS season, Buddle has 64 career regular season goals in 173 games, which means that he averages to score a goal every 2.7 games. He joined the Galaxy in June 2007 and now has 16 goals in 29 games for the club, which means that he averages to score a goal every 1.8 games.
Buddle is now tied with Herculez Gomez for 11th place in Galaxy history in goals with 16. With his next goal, he will move into a tie for ninth place in club history with Ezra Hendrickson and Sasha Victorine.
FALLING FROM FIRST:
With their 1-1 draw at home against Chivas USA on Thursday and Real Salt Lake's 2-0 home win over Columbus on Saturday, the Galaxy have been knocked out of first place in the Western Conference for the first time since May 31. The Galaxy are now 6-6-4 for 22 points, leaving them one point behind RSL who has 23 points from a 6-6-5 record.
The Galaxy were first knocked from first place in the final game of May, a 2-0 loss to Toronto FC, before reclaiming the Conference's top spot the following week with a 3-2 win over Colorado. LA has been in first place ever since, their longest run at the top of the conference since the start of the 2004 season.
CHRIS NEVILLE DEPARTS THE CLUB:
LA Galaxy Fitness Coach Chris Neville has elected to leave the club and return to his native England. Originally hired in February, Neville helped plan and administer the club's training and fitness regimen through Athlete's Performance. Prior to joining the Galaxy, Neville had spent time with a number of different clubs in England, including Barnet, Birmingham City, West Bromwich Albion and Portsmouth, as well as the England FA.
RESERVES GET FIRST WIN OF THE SEASON:
The Galaxy Reserves collected their first win of the season on Friday afternoon when they defeated Chivas USA, 5-3, at The Home Depot Center. Carlos Ruiz had two goals and two assists in the game while Alan Gordon added two goals and Israel Sesay scored his first-ever goal for the Reserves. With the win, the Reserves are now 1-3-1 on the season. They are back in action on Monday, July 28 against FC Dallas at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas.
RIOS ON THE VERGE OF U-20 TITLE:
The Galaxy Rios U-20's earned a pair of wins this weekend to move to the brink of the USL Super-20 Pacific Southern California League title. On Saturday, the Rios defeated Lancaster 5-0 before knocking off Riverside 6-1 on Sunday. Those two wins give the Rios a record of 6-2-1 on the season for 19 points with one game to play, in Riverside on Saturday afternoon.
If the Rios win or tie that game, they will claim the league title. They can also win the league title with a loss of less than 19 goals based on goal difference. The Rios, who are coached by Paul Bravo, have outscored opponents 35-7 so far this year for a +28 goal difference. The Ventura County Fusion, who are currently tied with the Rios for first place with 19 points, finished the season with a +9 goal difference.
The Rios and Fusion will represent the Pacific Southern California League at the USL Super-20 League North American Finals later this month in Virginia Beach, Va. There, they will face off against 14 top U-20 teams from around the country.
The two sides met twice this season with the Rios winning the first meeting 5-0 and Ventura County winning 2-0 in the second.
DON'T MISS GALAXY DEPORTIVO EVERY WEEKEND:
Galaxy Deportivo, the Galaxy's official weekly half hour show, is back for another year and can now be seen every weekend on two different stations. The show will first air on KWHY-22 every Saturday night at 6 p.m. with a series of features and interviews that provide insight into the weekend's game. Then on Sunday morning, Galaxy Deportivo will air again, this time on Telemundo-52 at ** with the same in depth access, as well as highlights from Saturday night's match.
For the third straight year, Alejandro Navarro and Elmer Polanco will serve as hosts for the show, giving viewers an unprecedented level of access and insight to the 2008 Galaxy team.
PURO GALAXY HITS ESPN DEPORTES RADIO:
ESPN Deportes Radio KWKW 1330 AM, the Galaxy's official Spanish language radio partner, is the place for all of your Galaxy news and information. The best place to get that information is on Puro Galaxy, the network's weekly, hour-long show that can tell you all you need to know and more about the Galaxy, airs every Saturday from 2-3 p.m., just in time to get you ready for the Galaxy's game on the weekend.
Rolando Gonzalez, who serves as the play-by-play voice of the Galaxy on broadcasts on KWKW, is the host of Puro Galaxy, and he will be joined by his fellow broadcasters and a series of special guests. So tune in each and every week and stay up to date with everything that is going on in the Galaxy.
