The Vancouver Whitecaps look to bounce back from a pair of lackluster performances on Wednesday when they welcome the LA Galaxy to town.

This is week two of a flurry of matches across multiple competitions, meaning both sides will likely be rotating heavily for this one. The Caps didn’t fare especially well last week, however, with a disappointing draw against CF Montreal in the Canadian Championship and a 3-1 pasting by an upstart St. Louis City SC side.

The Caps have not been able to get a signature win over a top Western Conference side this season, but they have done an effective job pounding mediocre or bad teams. This represents another one of those matchups where they will be heavily favored against a weaker side because while the Galaxy has strung a few results together, they will not be mistaken for one of the conference’s top teams.

This Galaxy side has looked a bit tougher to play against in recent matches after a summer overhaul of their roster, picking up a win over a strong New England Revolution side over the weekend. DP Gabriel Pec? Gone to Cruzeiro in Brazil. Right back Miki Yamane, midfielder Edwin Cerrillo, and defender Mauricio Cuevas have joined him on the way out. That represents a significant chunk of the backbone of the 2024 MLS Cup-winning side, all of whom have never quite replicated that success in recent years. Striker Joao Klauss, meanwhile, remains out with an injury.

Newcomers include wingers Robert Taylor and Chuky Lozano, both castoffs from other MLS teams, as well as international imports Kyogo Furuhashi and Sergi Roberto. Lozano has been itching to show everyone why San Diego made a mistake by pushing him out the door, and he is seemingly the Galaxy’s most dangerous player at the moment with a goal and an assist in five matches.

The Galaxy ranks near the bottom in goals scored per match, however, a sign that they have never really figured out a cohesive strategy without playmaker Riqui Puig. The arrival of Lozano might change that but, by and large, this is a team that has generated a large number of low quality chances but few big ones.

The backline has seen less turnover, with Jakob Glesnes and Justin Haak doing a solid job of holding down the fort in front of JT Marcinkowski, who has been a reliable option in goal. There might be some luck here, as LA is overperforming their expected goals against. But the defense has been an asset more than a liability in recent matches, with Marcinkowski in particular on a bit of a heater.

Injuries mean the Caps will again be up against it in the backline, where they will continue to have to play Tristan Blackmon and Mathias Laborda. Mihail Gherasimencov struggled on Saturday at right back against St. Louis, and it feels like this will either be Rui Modesto’s debut or Cheikh Sabaly will continue to play out of position as a fullback.

In the attack, Vancouver will need to figure out a way to get their wide players clicking again after two matches in a row where Bruno Caicedo, Sabaly, and Emmanuel Sabbi have all struggled. Jesper Sorensen will have to decide whether to bite the bullet and play Thomas Müller and Ryan Gauld together, which has made the attack look far more dangerous, or continue rotating them in and out of the lineup and save their legs for the three matches that are coming up in the next 10 days. Meanwhile, the midfield personnel will be interesting, with Jeevan Badwal out. That might require the return of Oliver Larraz and Andres Cubas together in midfield, something we’ve missed in recent matches due to rotation.

Vancouver has not lost a match all season against a team below the playoff line and will look to play with initiative here and take the game to an inferior Galaxy team. This match ended 1-1 in Carson after the Caps dominated proceedings. They will hope for a slightly better result and all three points in this one.