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Galaxy vs. Wizards match preview
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WHAT: Kansas City Wizards (4-4-3) at Los Angeles Galaxy (1-1-8)
WHERE: Home Depot Center, 7:30 p.m. Saturday
TV/RADIO: TV: Fox Sports West/Telefutura (Spanish); 570 KLAC/Deportes Radio 1330 (Spanish)
ALL-TIME: Galaxy lead, 21-16-7
LAST MEETING: Wizards won 2-0 on Sept. 13, 2008
THE STORYLINE: The Galaxy look to continue their dominance over the Wizards at the Home Depot Center, where Kansas City has not won since 2004. In theory, Kansas City comes in on a hot streak, having rebounded from an 0-2-1 stretch to earn points in their last two games including a gutty 1-1 draw with Chivas USA after going down to nine men. But that also means that the Wizards have some key suspensions to deal with, which might leave them ripe for the picking.
LA GALAXY FOCUS: 10 games. Eight draws. And no sign of letting up. And in three straight games, the Galaxy have had their opponents lose a man to a red card - and they've drawn every game. Last week was even worse than the first two games: the Galaxy somehow managed to give up a goal after FC Dallas went down a man, and then couldn't figure out how to come back despite firing off a season-high 20 shots.
With Sean Franklin out of the lineup for 4 to 6 months, the pressure will seemingly fall on AJ DeLaGarza to pick up the slack in his absence. Head coach Bruce Arena also tinkered with the central midfield, again swapping out Stafani Miglioranzi for Josh Tudela, to little effect. It will be interesting to see if Alan Gordon continues to start at forward, or if Edson Buddle is healthy enough to go a full 90 minutes.
KANSAS CITY WIZARDS FOCUS: As a result of their red cards from last week's draw with Chivas USA: Forward Josh Wolff, who is currently tied with three other players (including Landon Donovan) for the MLS goal scoring lead with six; and holding midfielder Santiago Hirsig. Expect Abe Thompson to step into Wolff's spot up front, while the question is: who will be the person to control possession in Hirsig's absence.
THE FINAL VERDICT: The Galaxy's midfield have struggled mightily with maintaining possession and creating flowing, decisive chances. Fortunately for them, the loss of Hirsig might be enough to give the midfielders some breathing room. A win is almost mandatory at this point, but until proven otherwise I'm making the same prediction again and again.
PREDICTION: Galaxy 1, Wizards 1
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