Sporting Kansas City v Los Angeles FC: Cherundolo taking pride in staunch defence

Steve Cherundolo stated his pride in Los Angeles FC’s defence and hopes they can put in another big performance against Sporting Kansas City on Saturday.

LAFC have won their last three games in all competitions, starting with their US Open Cup win over Sporting KC before getting back on track in MLS.

They are second in the Western Conference with three games left, with their 1-0 win over St. Louis City, in which they did not concede a single shot on target, closing the gap to LA Galaxy.

Cherundolo lauded his defenders for that performance and is pleased to see their training sessions paying off.

“It’s great to see we’re growing and learning in certain situations and putting all the pieces together,” Cherundolo said.

“The defensive side of the game is something we train a lot and take pride in. When our defenders have enough minutes together and continuity, we’re quite good.

“They’ve done extremely well and adapted amazingly by applying their lessons from training into the matches.”

Fought for 120 minutes, but fell short.

Behind the Shield presented by @audi: Heartbreak#SportingKC pic.twitter.com/yTrermNctH

— Sporting Kansas City (@SportingKC) October 3, 2024

Meanwhile, Kansas City will not be playing in the postseason as they sit 13th after just one win in their last five, losing 3-1 to St. Louis last time out.

However, head coach Peter Vermes has challenged his side to finish the regular season on a high.

“I’d like to win both games. This isn’t like handing out free passes to go and play,” Vermes said.

“Being in this spot isn’t normal for our club, but I’m not changing the way I pick the team. We’ve still got two games to play, and we’ll give it everything we have to make it tough.”

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Sporting Kansas City – Stephen Afrifa

Despite dominating against St. Louis last time out, Kansas City failed to get a win, though Stephen Afrifa ensured they did not fire a blank.

He scored their only goal after having six shots, four of which were on target, while also having nine touches in the opposition box, more than anyone else on the pitch.

LAFC – Denis Bouanga

There is no doubt who has been one of the star performers for LAFC this season, with Denis Bouanga scoring 19 goals in MLS so far.

He does not just score goals though, as he can also dictate play – his five chances created against St. Louis last time out were the most of any player in the game.

x 19

Denis Bouanga currently sits second in the Golden Boot race with 19 goals.

Thrill of the Match | @Yaamava pic.twitter.com/Ku5yW1YZKm

— LAFC (@LAFC) October 3, 2024

MATCH PREDICTION: LOS ANGELES FC WIN

Kansas City have failed to win any of the six meetings with LAFC since September 2021 in MLS regular season and have only won four of their 12 matches overall against the club.

This will be the third meeting between the sides this season, with their previous MLS meeting ending in a 0-0 draw, before LAFC beat them 3-1 in extra time to clinch the US Open Cup final last month.

That win over Sporting in the final started a three-match winning streak for LAFC, who were winless in their five games prior to that run.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Sporting Kansas City – 28.8%

Draw – 24.5%

LAFC – 46.8%