LA Galaxy to face a familiar foe

While Wednesday's contest against the San Jose Earthquakes is not a sanctioned Major League Soccer match, the Los Angeles Galaxy will close out this month in first place out West.

July was the only month this year where the LA Galaxy lost multiple games, two. A stunning upset to the Chicago Fire and losing the rematch against LAFC prevented the Western Conference leaders from building upon their lead in the standings.

Head Coach Greg Vanney and company have already taken a pair of victories from the Earthquakes. There is little doubt that his team couldn't pull off another one.

How did the Los Angeles Galaxy make so much space between them and San Jose?

Well, geographically speaking, the two are not terribly far apart. However, when it comes to where each squad sits in the standings, there certainly is.

First, the Los Angeles Galaxy are one of the league's best offensive teams. Their 47 goals scored are tied for second-best in the West and tied for third-best in the entire league.

That is largely in part to the tandem of Dejan Joveljic and Gabriel Pec leading the team in scoring. The Serbian forward has put a dozen balls into the net despite missing some games lately.

Pec has recorded ten goals, as well. Ricard Puig and Joseph Paintsil are right there with both of them having tallied eight goals each.

Puig leads the LA Galaxy in assists. His 11 assists rank tied for fifth in all of MLS. Pec is also responsible for 10 more assists.

Not one player for the Earthquakes has scored more than five goals this year. Amahl Pellegrino has that many and a pair of San Jose footballers have four. Cristian Espinoza only has three goals on the season but has contributed ten assists, as well.

LA Galaxy keeper John McCarthy has helped preserve a number of his teams leads. He has only allowed 34 goals this season. San Jose has allowed a dismal 59 goals.

As they are outmatched on both offense and defense, the Los Angeles Galaxy look to shake off their upstate opponent on Wednesday night. This is the second of three games in the 2024 League's Cup Group Stage.

While it remains to be seen which players for the LA Galaxy will take the field, any momentum they can garner moving forward shall help set them up for future success, including a potential sixth championship.