This year, the top two seeds in the Western Conference will square off for a spot in the MLS Cup Final as Los Angeles FC welcome Austin FC to Banc of California Stadium on Sunday.
In the Conference semi-finals, the Black and Gold scored an injury-time goal to defeat the Los Angeles Galaxy 3-2, while Austin hung on for a 2-1 victory over Dallas.
Match preview
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Throughout the 2022 campaign, Steve Cherundolo and his team have been working towards a spot in the Cup final, and they will have their opportunity to reach that goal on Sunday.
Last Thursday, LAFC tallied the opening goal after 23 minutes, but their California rivals refused to go away, levelling the encounter on two occasions before the home side found a late winner.
As a result, the team with the best record in the regular season are in the Western Conference final for the second time in franchise history.
Their last appearance at this stage of the competition was in 2019, the only other occasion in which they captured the Supporters' Shield.
Their opening strike against the Galaxy over a week ago was only the second time since the beginning of August that they had scored a first-half goal at home.
During the 2022 regular season, LAFC had six clean sheets at home, but their backline has not been quite as stingy at Banc of California Stadium in the playoffs, conceding 11 goals in four postseason outings.
Historically, they have conceded multiple strikes in all five of their postseason affairs, allowing three goals in three of those contests.
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The sophomore campaign in Austin has been about proving the critics wrong, and this group did it again last week in the Western Conference semi-finals.
Their us against the world mentality seems to have brought this team together from a year ago, as the preseason predictions from most pundits have been used as bulletin board material in the locker room.
Josh Wolff's team came out swinging last Sunday, going up 2-0 before the match was 30 minutes old, and they did well to hold off a second-half surge from Dallas, thanks in part to some excellent goalkeeping by Brad Stuver.
Goalkeeping may be an area that seems to have been overlooked with this group in the media, especially when you consider what this team has accomplished this season, scoring the second-most goals in the Western Conference (65), one fewer than their opponents this weekend.
Austin are one of only three teams who have faced the Black and Gold multiple times in a single season and triumphed in every encounter against them, winning 4-1 at home in August and capturing a 2-1 victory at Banc of California Stadium in May.
All season their potent attackers have made the headlines, although they have struggled in the final third away from home lately, failing to score in their last three road fixtures, conceding a total of eight goals over that stretch.
Team News
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Denis Bouanga became only the third LAFC player to notch a brace in the postseason last week, while Carlos Vela has scored (two) or assisted (four) on six of their first 10 MLS Cup playoff goals.
Cristian Arango notched the winner versus the Galaxy, his 31st since joining them in August 2021, as only Hany Mukhtar (35) has found the back of the net more often over that span.
Welsh striker Gareth Bale is questionable for this game because of a left leg injury, while Cherundolo made two changes to his starting 11 versus their California rivals last week as Jesus Murillo replaced Giorgio Chiellini at the back and Jose Cifuentes took the place of Latif Blessing.
Moussa Djitte became only the second Senegalese player to find the back of the net in an MLS playoff fixture last Sunday, with the first being Mamadou Diallo for Tampa Bay in 2000.
Sebastian Driussi notched the winner versus Dallas, his 25th in between the regular season and playoffs, more than any player in the league this year.
Freddy Kleemann remains out because of a left knee injury, while two new faces were introduced to the opening lineup against Dallas as Daniel Pereira and Djitte replaced Jhohan Valencia and Maxi Urruti in the starting 11.
Los Angeles FC possible starting lineup:
Crepeau; Hollingshead, Murillo, Segura, Palacios; Blessing, Sanchez, Acosta; Vela, Arango, Bouanga
Austin FC possible starting lineup:
Stuver; Lima, Cascante, Gabrielsen, Gallagher; Ring, Valencia; Finlay, Driussi, Fagundez; Djitte
We say: Los Angeles FC 3-2 Austin FC (AET)
These teams have been dynamic and potent in the attacking third all season long, while they have each shown their vulnerabilities along the backline, so we could see our share of goals in this contest.
Unfortunately for Austin, fairy tales do not always have a happy ending, and given the offensive depth of LAFC plus their ability to slow down the pace of a game, we believe they will have a little bit more quality that will propel them to a triumph on Sunday.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
