MLS Matchday 24 brings midweek American soccer action with 13 matches from Orlando, Florida to Vancouver, Canada. The majority of matches kick off on the normal Wednesday matchday schedule with three games getting the July 4th Holiday treatment.
Entering the month of July, MLS clubs face the reality that the American soccer season is more the halfway finished. Standings points are becoming more critical to obtain in the table as the intensity of matches increases weekly. The average amount of games played in MLS sits at 20-of-34, or 58% of the campaign, leaving very little runway left for teams that find themselves outside of a 2024 MLS Cup opportunity this fall.
While there is starting to be some separation in the Eastern Conference with Inter Miami and Cincinnati leading the way, the West is a three-way battle between LAFC, LA Galaxy, and Real Salt Lake. Two of those teams battled last weekend, while the midweek match in MLS Matchday 24 features another matchup between two of those squads.
Rose Bowl in LA Hosts Marquee El Trafico
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The annual El Trafico match between LAFC and LA Galaxy will occur on Independence Day in the United States. While holiday fireworks begin to burst in the nighttime East Coast sky, the Rose Bowl will be filling with football support from Los Angeles. Last year’s rivalry match on the same American holiday set a new single-game attendance record in Major League Soccer at over 82,000 fans.
MLS Matchday 24 features LAFC entering looking for their 10th straight win while LA Galaxy arrives with 3 consecutive clean sheets on a 4-game heater themselves. If that was not enough intrigue for the El Trafico, the Los Angeles soccer clubs are tied for top-seed in the Western Conference with 41 points. A victory in the Rose Bowl football spectacular could go a long way in helping to secure that critical pole position in the standings.
Denis Bouanga (13 goals) and Mateusz Bogusz (12) have powered the LAFC attack to their 14W-4L-4D record. Despite already sitting atop the table in the West, reinforcements are coming with A.C. Milan’s Olivier Giroud joining the squad when the summer transfer window opens on July 18.
Striker Dejean Joveljic’s 12 tallies double the next closest LA Galaxy teammates. The right-footed Serbian had 19 total goals in the first three years of his career in LA.
Columbus Crew Look To Rebound in Nashville
Nashville’s Lower.com Field hosts one of the best squads in MLS on Wednesday. Columbus Crew has captured max points in 6-of-7 games featuring pristine form as they look to defend their 2023 MLS Cup. Cucho Hernandez seeks his fifth straight match with teammate celebrations and crooked numbers on the scoreboard.
Hany Mukhtar will look to carry Nashville SC to a playoff spot under an interim manager clinging to a slim 4-point advantage in the MLS table entering MLS Matchday 24. A win would push Nashville closer to Charlotte FC in the MLS table.
Can Colorado Rapids Bounce Back After Loss to LAFC?
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The 4th-seeded Colorado Rapids will be a difficult task for the 13th-ranked Sporting KC. Colorado lost the last time out on the pitch, however, a lot of teams have lost to LAFC this season, so no fault there. Cole Bassett, 22, leads the Colorado attack with six goals on the year, followed by Lalas Abubakar with three scores.
Sporting Kansas City finds itself out of the Western Conference playoff scene with thirteen matches remaining. KC picked a win in MLS Matchday 23 to start the ascent up the scoreboard, but they will need to stun a top-seeded club to continue that momentum.
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