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It's time to get excited.
A Western Conference banger is set to kick off Sunday afternoon at the StubHub Center as a star-studded LA Galaxy side faces off against a Seattle Sounders team looking forward to the return of their talisman, Obafemi Martins (4 PM ET, 1PM PT ESPN, ESPN Deportes, WatchESPN, TSN2).
LA will certainly be confident in their ability to capitalize on their current momentum after ending their year-long road woes with a 3-1 victory over the Colorado Rapids last weekend and a midweek rout of Central FC in their opening CONCACAF Champions League match. That match featured the debut of marquee signing Giovani dos Santos, who gave fans an extra boost of excitement when he tucked away a cross midway through the second half.
How many minutes he'll play tomorrow will be down to the discretion of head coach Bruce Arena, who has been told by dos Santos that "he's fit."
On the other side of the pitch, Seattle are now in the midst of a four match losing skid, tied for the worst such streak in their history. The odds of them breaking that streak tomorrow don't look very promising, as Seattle haven't won in Carson since 2009. That's ten matches without a win.
Seattle may have a chance to break their 362-minute goalless streak thanks to the possible return of Obafemi Martins and his extremely dangerous partnership with Clint Dempsey which has resulted in 14 goals despite the two missing significant time due to injury and international commitments this season.
LA, on the other hand, are having no trouble scoring as of late. They've scored eight goals since last Saturday and show no signs of stopping. The absence of Osvaldo Alonso in Seattle's lineup will put extra pressure on the Sounders' back four and defensive midfielder Michael Azira, who will be forced to contain all of the Galaxy's threats.
The last time these two teams met, a rare first half goal from Alan Gordon proved to be the decider on April 12th. SInce then, plenty has changed for both sides and there should be a lot more attacking firepower on display.
It's gonna be fun.