Los Angeles Galaxy vs Austin FC prediction, preview, team news and more | MLS 2021
Los Angeles Galaxy entertain Austin FC in their MLS Western Conference fixture at the Dignity Health Tennis Center on Saturday.
The hosts are third in the Western Conference standings, having played a game fewer than leaders Seattle Sounders and second-placed San Jose Earthquakes.
In their last outing, they emerged as 2-1 winners over local rivals Los Angeles FC in the derby known as El Tráfico.
MLS top-scorer Javier Hernández scored his sixth goal of the campaign, while Jonathan dos Santos restored their one-goal lead after Diego Rossi had equalized.
Austin FC conceded twice in the final 10 minutes of the game and suffered a 2-1 loss at Sporting Kansas City. They have two wins and two losses in their four games so far.
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Los Angeles Galaxy vs Austin FC Head-to-Head
It is the first MLS season for the visitors, hence they have not met each other in competitive fixtures yet.
Los Angeles Galaxy form guide in MLS: W-L-W-W
Austin FC form guide in MLS: L-W-W-L
Los Angeles Galaxy vs Austin FC Team News
Los Angeles Galaxy
The hosts have a couple of injury concerns ahead of the game. Jalen Neal is yet to feature in a match this season and has been ruled out with an injury. The reason for his unavailability has not been disclosed by Galaxy.
Kevin Cabral has finally started training for the club and they announced his arrival on their Twitter account on Tuesday. He is in contention to make his MLS debut this weekend.
Víctor Vázquez did not feature in the derby game against Los Angeles FC on account of an injury and his participation in the game is doubtful.
Injured: Jalen Neal
Doubtful: Víctor Vázquez
Suspended: None
Austin FC
Ulises Segura, Aaron Schoenfeld and Ben Sweat are the three players out injured for Los Verdes at the moment. Sweat suffered a torn ACL in the game against Colorado and has been ruled out for an extended period of time.
Segura and Schoenfeld are yet to make their debut for the visitors and are not expected back anytime soon from their respective injuries.
Alexander Ring picked up two yellow cards in the loss against Sporting Kansas City and is suspended for the game.
Injured: Ulises Segura, Aaron Schoenfeld and Ben Sweat
Doubtful: None
Suspended: Alexander Ring
Los Angeles Galaxy vs Austin FC Predicted XI
Los Angeles Galaxy Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Jonathan Bond; Jorge Villafana, Daniel Steres, Nicholas DePuy, Julian Araujo; Jonathan dos Santos, Sebastian Lletget; Adam Saldana, Ethan Zubak, Samuel Grandsir; Javier Hernandez
Austin FC Predicted XI (4-3-3): Brad Stuver; Zan Kolmanic, Matt Besler, Jhohan Romana, Nick Lima; Diego Fagundez, Sebastian Berhalter, Tomas Pochettino; Cecilio Dominguez, Jon Gallagher, Jared Stroud
Los Angeles Galaxy vs Austin FC Prediction
The hosts have been in decent form in the league so far and have three wins to their name. While they have eight goals in these games, they have also conceded eight. They will need to improve their defensive department in future games.
Austin also have a net goal difference of 0, as they have scored and conceded five goals after four rounds of MLS fixtures.
In two home games so far, Galaxy have recorded two wins, with Hernandez scoring four goals. We expect the hosts to record a third-straight home win here against the MLS debutants.
Prediction: Los Angeles Galaxy 2-1 Austin FC
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