CARSON, Calif. – The LA Galaxy are locked in as the No. 3 seed in the upcoming Western Conference playoffs, they are assured of a home game in the knockout round on either Wednesday or Thursday.
All of this would appear to make Sunday’s regular-season finale between the Galaxy (12-6-15, 51 points) and FC Dallas (17-8-8, 59 points) at StubHub Center (1 p.m., Fox Sports 1, Fox Deportes) a meaningless affair, but that’s not necessarily the case.
A Galaxy victory would deny FC Dallas a chance at securing the league’s best overall record and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena, however, said he wasn’t interested in such ramifications.
“I couldn’t care less about any of that stuff,” he told reporters after training on Friday. “We’re trying to win the game.”
Center back Jelle Van Damme, who missed last Sunday’s 1-0 victory at Houston for yellow-card accumulation, took a decidedly different approach.
“It’s against Dallas, they need a point to win the Supporters’ Shield,” he said. “That’s a challenge for us, too, to not give them that point. And we play at home. I just want to win; it doesn’t matter who we play.
“I don’t want them to win the Supporters’ Shield on our home field.”
Goalkeeper Brian Rowe said the Galaxy will have no trouble preparing for the match, and not only because of Van Damme’s line of thinking.
“We’re all professionals and we all want to win,” he said. “It doesn’t matter who you put out on the field and it doesn’t matter if it’s a friendly or a meaningless game. We’re fighting for our jobs every day.
”We have pride and we’re going to push hard and want to win.”
It likely will be a different Galaxy team on the field, not so much because of injuries but to take a cautious approach with the playoffs starting as soon as three days later. Midfielder Steven Gerrard (hamstring) and striker Robbie Keane (hip flexor tightness) continue to rehab from their injuries and are close to returning to action, but chances are slim they will see any action Sunday.
Arena is expected to rotate his squad for the match, but he didn’t tip his hand.
“We’re going to try and win the game, that’s what our strategy is,” he said. “We are putting the best team we can put on the field, under the circumstances.
“You can figure that out any way you want to.”
One player who could be in for some playing time is forward Ariel Lassiter, who’s finally recovered from back problems and has made just two appearances this season, including last weekend’s 19-minute effort in Houston.
“I definitely have to take every opportunity that I have and I can’t take it for granted,” he said. “I have to show Bruce and the coaching staff that they can trust me, they can rely on me on not only the small things but the big ones.”
FC Dallas also will have a few new faces in the lineup, a tactic chosen out of necessity. Head coach Oscar Pareja’s team recently lost midfielder Mauro Diaz (5 goals and 13 assists) to a torn Achilles tendon and midfielder Kellyn Acosta has a hip injury that has left his availability for Sunday unclear at best. Defender Zach Loyd is out with a concussion.
LA GALAXY vs. FC DALLAS
StubHub Center | Carson, California
Sunday, Oct. 23 | Week #34 | MLS Game #338
1 pm PT (FS1 in the US, MLS LIVE in Canada)
FC Dallas need a win or a draw in their regular-season finale in order to secure the Supporters' Shield, awarded to MLS' top regular-season finisher, and first place in the Western Conference. However, doing so at the home of the LA Galaxy is a daunting task, given LA's 8-1-7 home record in league this year and the untimely injuries suffered by influential FCD midfielders Mauro Diaz and Kellyn Acosta last weekend. A Galaxy win would open the door for the Colorado Rapids to snatch the Shield should they defeat the last-place Houston Dynamo at home ... and provide LA with a useful psychological boost heading into the playoffs.
- The Galaxy put an end to their first losing streak of the season after just two games, snapping a three-game winless run overall with their 1-0 win at the Houston Dynamo on Sunday afternoon.
- FC Dallas hit the road for their regular season finale off of back-to-back home wins at Toyota Stadium, Carlos Ruiz scoring his first MLS goal since 2011 to give FCD a 2-1 win against Seattle Sounders FC on Sunday afternoon, putting them back atop the MLS overall table in the chase for the Supporters’ Shield.
- The teams are meeting for the second time this season in league play, the back end of a home-and-home series over the season’s final four weeks. Walker Zimmerman scored the game’s lone goal to give FCD the victory in the first encounter, Oct. 1 at Toyota Stadium.
- The FCD win snapped a two-game Galaxy winning streak in the league series, LA winning at each ground. The Galaxy are undefeated in Carson over the last eight meetings vs. FC Dallas in league play, dating back to the start of the 2010 season, going 7-0-1 in that time.
- The teams also met in a U.S. Open Cup semifinal this year, FC Dallas taking a 2-1 win in extra time Aug. 10 at StubHub Center, Victor Ulloa scoring the late game-winning goals.
