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The LA Galaxy put an end to another busy MLS week this Sunday when they host Orlando City at StubHub Center in their first ever league meeting in Southern California.
Naturally, the talk of the town is Landon Donovan. The 34-year-old announced his return to Major League Soccer on Thursday and will be at coach Bruce Arena’s disposal for Sunday’s game.
Donovan’s return might come to a shock to many, as he has not played a single game in two years. While Bruce Arena has been able to get full use of a deep Galaxy squad, Donovan hopes he can roll back the years and help this team in any way he can.
But the question on everybody’s mind is will Donovan play on Sunday? Probably not. Of course, stranger things have happened, but with less than a week of full training, it seems highly unlikely Donovan will be completely ready.
That said, Orlando City isn’t the kind of team the Galaxy should look to take any risks against. Jason Kreis’ side is coming off an impressive 4-1 victory at the Montreal Impact and is firmly in the playoff race in the Eastern Conference.
If the Galaxy had a formula for not dropping late leads on the road, they would most likely be battling it out with FC Dallas for the Supporters’ Shield. On Wednesday, Bruce Arena’s side took a 3-1 lead against Real Salt Lake before eventually conceding a late goal and settling for a 3-3 draw.
Bruce Arena’s side is still third in the Western Conference and well on the path to clinching a place in the playoffs. With tough games against Sporting KC, Seattle Sounders, and FC Dallas remaining, however, they might want to seal a place in the playoffs as soon as possible. We might even get to see Landon Donovan play sooner.
LAST MEETING
Orlando City 4-0 LA Galaxy - May 17, 2015 - MLS
Orlando cruised to an easy victory over the Galaxy in their first ever game against the Galaxy.
LIKELY LINE-UPS
LA Galaxy (4-2-3-1): Rowe; Rogers, Steres, DeLaGarza, Cole; Husidic, Larentowicz; Boateng, dos Santos, Lletget; Keane
Orlando City (4-2-3-1): Bendik; Alston, Aja, Mateos, Boden; Carrasco, Nocerino; Molino, Perez Garcia, Kaka; Larin