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Where: BC Place, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
When: Tuesday, April 17, 7:00 pm PT
How to Watch: YouTube TV and KMVD in Los Angeles viewing area, ESPN+ in the rest of the U.S. and TSN in Canada.
Los Angeles Football Club will look to keep their outstanding start to the 2019 season going when they travel to Vancouver to take on the Whitecaps on Wednesday. LAFC are coming off their 2-0 win over expansion side FC Cincinnati at Banc of California Stadium, and sit atop the Western Conference with 19 points through seven games. In addition, LAFC have 21 goals this season, by far the most in the league. LAFC is one of three unbeaten teams in the league at the moment, the other two being Western Conference foes Seattle Sounders and the Houston Dynamo.
Vancouver, meanwhile, is off to a tough start under former LAFC assistant Marc Dos Santos. Vancouver is one of four MLS teams without a win this season (Colorado, NYCFC, and Portland are the others), and the ‘Caps have scored just five goals through six games. The redeeming part of their point total so far has been their 1-1 draw in Chicago last week, and their 0-0 draw with Seattle at home at the end of March.
LAFC continues to improve their record on the road since the start of last season — their win over D.C. United two weeks ago boosted their tally to nine wins, three draws, and nine losses. Vancouver has seven wins, six draws, and seven losses at home.
The Whitecaps and LAFC do have a bit of history, as the sides came up against one another twice last season. The first was in the second week of April, in Vancouver, which LAFC won 2-0, thanks to goals from Carlos Vela and Diego Rossi. The second was the second-to-last match of the regular season, which saw the two sides draw (which was one of the defining results for LAFC to finish third in the West instead of higher) at two goals apiece, with LAFC going up 2-0 with a Diego Rossi brace within 15 minutes, and Vancouver fighting back to draw.
Prediction: Vancouver 0, LAFC 3. LAFC will continue their tear through MLS to start this season. Carlos Vela will continue doing Carlos Vela things, and Vancouver won’t be able to get much going. Last season, Vancouver had Alphonso Davies to threaten anyone with on the pitch. Now they don’t have much in the firepower department, outside of Fredy Montero. Plus, they are still feeling the loss of Kendall Waston. LAFC should be able to handle business on the road and prepare for a big-time matchup with the Sounders over the weekend.
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