Crew, LAFC will be missing key pieces
Crew SC and Los Angeles FC will take the field Saturday night at Banc of California Stadium without a key variable in their respective equations.
Goalkeeper Zack Steffen did not make the trip with the Crew because of a knee injury suffered at training Thursday, meaning that backup Jon Kempin is likely to get the nod in goal. LAFC’s most prolific contributor on offense — Carlos Vela, who has seven goals and five assists in 12 games — remains an ocean away with Mexico’s national team at the World Cup.
It’s an absence that softens the blow of Steffen’s, but it’s one that doesn’t reduce coach Gregg Berhalter’s concerns.
“Carlos Vela not playing will help us, but they still have, whether it’s (Adama) Diomande, (Benny) Feilhaber, (Lee) Nguyen, (Diego) Rossi, (Latif) Blessing, (MarkAnthony) Kaye, they still have a nice attacking group,” Berhalter said. “It’s a team that I like, and I think they’re doing a good job and it’s going to be a nice game.”
LAFC is 2-0-3 in its first five home games but has not been shut out in those five games.
The team is tied for Crew SC catches a break because LAFC will be without a key offensive player in Carlos Vela, left, who is playing with Mexico’s national team in the World Cup. He is shown against Germany.
third in Major League Soccer with 29 goals, while allowing 24. In seven road games, the Crew has held opponents scoreless five times and to one goal twice. Berhalter indicated his group won’t stray far from tendencies that have been successful.
“I think our objective on the road will stay the same,” he said. “We want to hurt them in ways that we know we can, but at the same time, we don’t want to be giving much up and giving much away, and I think it’s a very similar objective.”
Saturday also marks the Crew’s first time playing against the expansion side and is
a visit home for the Crew’s Angelenos. Defender Hector Jimenez and forward Gyasi Zardes grew up in the Los Angeles area — Jimenez in Huntington Park and Zardes in Hawthorne — and played for the Los Angeles Galaxy before joining the Crew.
Zardes grew up going to Galaxy games in Carson with his father, Glenn, and said a new team closer to downtown Los Angeles will mean more opportunities for kids in the area.
“It gives the kids an opportunity to look forward to their dreams,” Zardes said. “I was fortunate enough to make it and play for LA
Galaxy. Same thing with LAFC. I’m sure there are kids in the South Central area, downtown, Santa Monica, South Bay area that are going to LAFC games and dreaming and wishing of one day playing there.”
Jimenez, a product of the Arsenal FC club team, which has roots across southern California, said another professional soccer team in LA will add to the competition for young talent in a soccer-rich area.
“It’s good for the league; it’s good for the city of Los Angeles,” Jimenez said. “There’s a lot more for younger kids than I had when I was growing up. We didn’t have the When: 10:30 tonight Where: Banc of California Stadium, Los Angeles TV: Channel 53, Spectrum Sports Radio: WWCD-FM (102.5) Records: Crew SC 7-4-6; LAFC 7-4-3 Projected starters: Crew — GK Kempin; D Afful, Abubakar, Mensah, Valenzuela; MF Trapp, Artur, Santos, Higuain, Grella; F Zardes; LAFC — GK Miller; D Beitashour, Ciman, Zimmerman, Moutinho; MF Feilhaber, Atuesta, Kaye, Nguyen, Rossi; F Blessing. On LAFC: Will be without Carlos Vela, Marco Urena and Omar Gaber, all of whom are on international duty. … Has won one of its last five games, a 4-3 victory in San Jose on June 9. … Has scored two or more goals seven times in 14 games this season.
academies and the things that they have now, so it’s good.” On the Crew: Is looking to avoid extending its winless streak to a season-long five games. … The Crew has earned a win or tie in each of its last three road games. … Saturday’s game will be the first Crew road game to not feature Zack Steffen in goal since Oct. 23, 2016. Steffen is expected to be out a little more than one week. How it might play out: Steffen’s injury is obviously worrisome for the Crew, but LAFC will be without its top attacking option in Vela. Still, Crew SC, which has scored in just one of its last six road games, will need to be more efficient with its chances to earn a positive result against an LAFC side that has not been shut out at home this season. Either Crew SC scores two goals by the hour mark or this is LAFC’s game to win.