Los Angeles FC vs Sporting Kansas City Prediction: LAFC won't be entertaining guests at this time.

With round 2 over, the MLS is gradually beginning to take shape and teams are beginning to build a strong momentum for the long season ahead. Los Angeles’ defeat to Real Salt Lake in round 2 is arguably the most bizarre of results in that round considering the quality of the Los Angeles team. They lost 3-0 against Real Salt Lake, who also ended the game with just 10 men. Now they are hoping to bounce back in game 3 and nothing else would make sense except the win.

Sporting Kansas City on the other hand have played 2 draws in their opening 2 games. 2 points from 6 is nowhere near good enough for a team as ambitious as Sporting Kansas and they should feel worried. Their next game is against Los Angeles FC and they can't afford to be complacent or else they might end up with a first defeat.

Los Angeles FC

Los Angeles FC have a reputation to defend in game 3. They were dealt a huge blow in game 2 by Real Salt Lake and it just shows how dangerous complacency can be. 

They started the season so well with a 2-1 win over Seattle Sounders and then they traveled to the Rio Tinto Stadium where they were torn to shreds by a not-so-formidable Real Salt Lake team. Real Salt Lake’s Andre Gomez grabbed a double in the 18th and 41st minutes and Cristian Arango scored the third in the 50th minute. There was surely no coming back from such a horrible first half for Los Angeles, so they failed to pull any goal back. 

Los Angeles manager Steve Cherundolo has a lot of questions to answer as to how his team crumbled so quickly in the first 45 minutes against Real Salt Lake. The team played a 4-3-3 formation and they struggled to cope throughout the game. In the first half, Los Angeles managed only 38% of the possession which was a huge reason why they failed to keep control of the game.

Los Angeles FC can't afford any more defeat, the 3-0 defeat to Real Salt Lake is humiliating enough. 

Sporting Kansas City

Sporting Kansas are hoping to poke the bear once again and hope to walk out without a scar. They have had their fair share of struggles with 2 draws in their opening 2 games and they have one option and that is to find a way at all cost.

Their last match was against Philadelphia Union and there was nothing to separate both sides at the end of the game. Sporting Kansas were gutted at the end to lose the advantage they had in the 19th minute. Rémi Walter scored the only goal for Sporting Kansas City in the 19th minute and in the 95th minute Philadelphia Union got the equalizer. 

Peter Joseph Vermes felt unlucky with the result of the last game and he hopes the side can get better luck in the coming game. He deployed a 4-3-3 formation against Philadelphia Union and there was a brilliant display from the team in that game. His team controlled 59% possession, they had 7 shots on target and 7 corner kicks. They created 1 big chance, hit the woodwork once and had 7 shots in the opponent's box.

Despite being the better team against Philadelphia Union, Sporting Kansas City seemed to struggle to create a lot of goal scoring chances. That has to be carefully considered ahead of the trip to Los Angeles FC.

Head to Head

According to the h2h reports, Los Angeles FC and Sporting Kansas City have played 11 games against each other. Los Angeles won 6 matches, while Sporting Kansas City won 4 and they drew 1 match.

Analysis and Predictions

It would be a worry if Los Angeles FC approaches this game with subtlety. The least the fans expect is an angry and aggressive response after the defeat in the last game. And Sporting Kansas City are not a walkover, but they haven't played to their best attacking strength since the beginning of the season. Another draw for Sporting Kansas will definitely not look good. 

According to the h2h, Los Angeles FC have not lost the last 5 meetings. Sporting Kansas City are without a clean sheet in all 10 meetings and 8 of the last 10 meetings ended with more than 2.5 goals. Both teams scored in 8 of the last 10 meetings and there were less than 10.5 corners in 9 of the last 10 meetings. 

• Los Angeles FC to Win at 1.65 Odds
• Los Angeles FC to Win at 1.65 Odds
• Los Angeles FC to Win at 1.60 Odds