Los Angeles FC v St. Louis City SC: Cherundolo hails ´unstoppable´ Bouanga

Los Angeles FC coach Steve Cherundolo labelled Denis Bouanga as “unstoppable” when the forward is at his best.

Bouanga came off the bench to score the winner as LAFC beat FC Cincinnati 2-1 over the weekend.

That victory saw LAFC, fresh from winning the US Open Cup, clinch their spot in the playoffs.

Bouanga, who has scored 18 goals and set up a further eight in MLS this season, was not impressed with having to settle for a super-sub role, but Cherundolo cares not.

“Denis always wants to play; he never wants to rest,” Cherundolo said.

“He was quite upset with me for not starting. And that’s okay. Everybody can hate me, that’s fine.

“But I think freshness and also making sure he’s getting enough rest makes him also better.

“Obviously, he’s physically capable of playing every game, but when he loses his explosiveness, he is still extremely good and we’re happy to have him.

“But with explosiveness and freshness, he’s unstoppable.”

Ahead of playing St. Louis City SC on Wednesday, the challenge that now faces LAFC is to go on and secure a home playoff seed.

“To have that sort of response, it’s going to be huge going forward for us,” defender Ryan Hollingshead said after the win over Cincinnati.

“The team’s already confident. And then you throw that result on top of it, I think it’s going to be exactly what we need to go get a really good seed in the West moving forward and then go make another run for a cup.”

David x Denis

Every angle of each goal from our win in Cincinnati. pic.twitter.com/ysa1MyCQfF

— LAFC (@LAFC) September 30, 2024

PLAYERS TO WATCH

LAFC – Kei Kamara

Kamara set up LAFC’s opener against Cincinnati.

It was Kamara’s 49th assist in MLS. He is now one away from becoming the fifth player in league history with 100 goals and 50 assists.

St. Louis City SC – Cedric Teuchert

Teuchert has recorded eight goal contributions in his first seven MLS matches (five goals, three assists), including three in Saturday’s win over Sporting Kansas City.

He is the first player to record eight goal contributions in his first seven MLS matches since Alejandro Pozuelo (10) in 2019.

MATCH PREDICTION: LAFC WIN

St. Louis, who are 12th in the Western Conference, are unbeaten in four straight away matches for the first time in club history. Indeed, they have lost only six of their last 15 on the road dating back to the beginning of March (W1 D8).

However, LAFC are nevertheless backed by Opta’s predictor. They have now hit 50 points in five of their six full MLS seasons, becoming one of two teams, along with the Philadelphia Union, to reach 50 points five times in the last six full seasons dating back to 2018 (excluding the shortened 2020 season).

The omens are good for LAFC, who are unbeaten against St. Louis, winning two of the three meetings (D1). In fact, LAFC have kept clean sheets in all three matches against St. Louis, making them the only opponent the latter have faced but never scored against.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

LAFC – 62.1%

St. Louis City – 17.8%

Draw – 20%