Leagues Cup Match Preview: LAFC vs Vancouver Whitecaps – who’s ready for a season pause!

Well, it’s certainly been a long time since I’ve written one of these previews! It’s been quite a busy number of months for me, but thankfully I’m now back in the saddle and ready to kick on with some MLS action!

Wait, what do you mean this isn’t MLS play? You’re telling me the Leagues Cup wasn’t just a one-time thing? We have to do this every year now?

Okay, so apparently there’s not another MLS match for another four weeks, when the Whitecaps will take on LAFC. Instead, we get to watch something completely different: the Leagues Cup, where the Whitecaps will take on LAFC!

Of course, the fact that the Leagues Cup groups are drawn out of geographic pots (at least on the MLS side) means there’s only a certain number of teams the ‘Caps could have drawn. But there is a bit of an “oh of course” feeling to lining up against LAFC, who have become a bit of a bogeyman for the ‘Caps as of late. First it was the Champions Cup. Then it was the MLS playoffs. Now they want to knock us out of a third competition??? Thankfully there’s no way we can get them in the Canadian Championship, at least for now…

To be honest, it’s hard for me personally to get too jazzed up about the Leagues Cup. Given how jarring of a shift it is to suddenly pause the entire league to play in a side tournament, unless you’re one of the favourites to lift the trophy then playing in it doesn’t really do anything but provide extra wear and tear for players who (in the case of the Whitecaps) have already played in three other competitions this year.

Especially with Ryan Gauld hurt (who couldn’t have picked a better time to need a month off), a tough group draw, and an overall choppy season to this point, it’s hard to see the ‘Caps as any sort of favourites.

With that said, of course I will be watching! If the Whitecaps are playing on TV, then I’m going to watch (unless they’re playing Wrexham). And it’ll be interesting to see whether the month of good form they put together before last weekend’s loss might be a sign of turning the corner again, or whether the home defeat to the Dynamo will send things crashing down again.

The main issue at the moment (besides Gauld’s injury) is the fact that the backline is currently being held together by duct tape and spit. With Tristan Blackmon, Mathias Laborda, and Luis Martins all dealing with injuries recently, and Javain Brown now gone from the team, there’s not much there besides Ranko Veselinović and Bjorn Inge Utvik.

As long as one of Laborda or Blackmon is good to go on Tuesday then it’s fine, but if not, then there are some interesting questions. Will Belal Halbouni actually get some non-friendly minutes? Will Sam Adekugbe be drafted in as an emergency centre back, or Sebastian Berhalter, or even all five feet and four inches of Andrés Cubas – who did so for about 10 minutes against Houston?

The other notable injury consequence is that Gauld’s absence gives Ali Ahmed the chance to get more reps as one of the three forwards. With Damir Kreilach not gelling as of yet this year and Levonte Johnson being just so-so, the only assured starter spots up front in a current Best XI belong to Brian White and Fafa Picault, leaving space for the young Canadian.

It’s been a bit of an up and down year for Ahmed too, with questions as to where his best position in this team actually is, but he showed at the Copa America how dangerous he can be when he’s in the attacking third. Giving him more reps in that part of the field can only be a good thing, and we need as much creative juice as we can right now with Gauld out.

Looking at the opponents, LAFC are coming off a 3-0 thumping of Club Tijuana to open up Leagues Cup on Friday. The regulation win all but assures them passage to the next round, barring a complete collapse against the ‘Caps in this match. The black and gold are once again humming and have only lost twice in all competitions since the end of March. Denis Bouanga continues to terrorize defences with an incredible 17 goals and 13 assists in all competitions this year, and he’s set to be joined up front (perhaps Tuesday, perhaps later) by Olivier Giroud.

The ‘Caps have won just five of their 19 meetings all-time against LAFC, and just once in their ten matches in California. However, regardless of what happens, everything will come down to the Whitecaps’ second and final match of the group stage against Tijuana, and they can neither advance nor be eliminated in this match. Does that take some of the pressure off? Who knows, but it can’t hurt.