Match Preview: Vancouver Whitecaps vs LAFC – another measuring stick contest

The Whitecaps have gotten a healthy (and well-deserved) increase of attention from the general MLS media and public with how they’ve played so far this season, only ramping up with the recent victories over Inter Miami.

Well, this weekend presents another opportunity to crank up the hype meter even more! The ‘Caps are playing in the standalone Sunday match, against an LAFC team that’s often tormented them in recent years.

While the California outfit had a sluggish period in the early part of the season, they’re certainly starting to round into form and are looking for what would be a signature win and reminder that they’re not looking to fall off just yet. Dang, is beating Vancouver a signature win now? Not that it seems to have helped Chicago too much just yet…

Regardless, a victory in front of a big crowd on Sunday over LAFC could also serve as the Whitecaps’ best MLS regular season result to this point in the campaign, although there certainly have been some high highs (4-1 over Portland, 5-1 over Austin, 3-1 over Minnesota, you get the idea). But pulling one over the team that’s eliminated them from the MLS playoffs each of the last two years (as well as the 2023 Champions Cup), now that would certainly feel good.

Something that will provide a boost to the cause is the fact that Brian White will be back in the fold after he was given the weekend off against RSL to make sure he didn’t aggravate a tight hamstring. It’s unfortunate that his return is combined with the absence of Daniel Rios who’s now picked up a knock, but so far this season the ‘Caps have had enough attacking depth to keep chugging along despite a slew of players missing time at different points.

Ranko Veselinović also got a well-deserved break last Saturday, while Sebastian Berhalter only played 30 minutes, as Jesper Sørensen has done a good job of rotating players in and out to make sure no one is driven to the ground with all of the fixture congestion to this point. Édier Ocampo and Tate Johnson have certainly shouldered large burdens with the injuries to the team’s other two fullbacks, although Mathias Laborda now is carrying a “questionable” tag so he appears to be getting close to a return.

With a full week off ahead of this upcoming battle, and another six days afterwards until the next one in Austin, you would imagine there won’t be any resting of key players in this one. Given the various absences the team basically picks itself, as you’re not breaking up the duo of Veselinović and Tristan Blackmon, or the trio of Berhalter, Andrés Cubas, and Pedro Vite, or challenging White’s spot at the top of the formation.

That means the only question is on the wing, where there’s spots for two of Ali Ahmed, Jayden Nelson and Emmanuel Sabbi. Nelson was a man on a mission against RSL and scored a beauty of a goal, putting him up to eight goal contributions on the season in all competitions which is the most of any of the three wingers.

Sørensen can at least rest easy knowing that there’s no real “wrong” option there. Heck, maybe he’ll even start Vite as one of the front three again and give JC Ngando another start!

On the side of the visitors, they are of course led by a winger of their own in Denis Bouanga, who has an incredible history against the ‘Caps with eight goals and seven assists in the 11 times he’s played against the club. He also has four goals and two assists in his last four appearances overall coming into this weekend, after he’d gone on a drought of five straight with no goal contributions.

After being dumped out of the Champions Cup by Miami, LAFC have rebounded with a four-match unbeaten run, albeit with three of those at home. The one road test was a dramatic 3-3 draw in Portland that featured a combined 29 shots between the two teams and a stoppage time penalty from Bouanga that grabbed a point for the visitors.

Will there be an equal number of fireworks in Vancouver on Sunday? Given that the Whitecaps currently hold the best goals against mark in the league they’ll certainly hope to not ship that many. But they’ll certainly need to bring their A game if they are to keep these incredible first few months rolling.