Owain Evans

OPPONENT WATCH: Los Angeles Galaxy II

Los Angeles Galaxy II (3 wins, 1 loss) currently sits in 4th place in the Group B standings. However, the team has played just four games, compared to Rising’s seven.

This will be Los Dos’ first game since July 25, when they defeated Sacramento Republic 1-0. The reason for that lengthy break? 11 Galaxy II players tested positive for COVID-19.

These two sides met in their first game after play restarted on July 11. Rising romped out as 4-0 winners after a trio of goals in the first half. Phoenix came out sluggish as the second half began, allowing Galaxy II to attack and give themselves a little hope. However, it was Rising who got the only remaining goal, as Solomon Asante’s deflected effort found its way into the back of the net.

That result meant that Rising maintained its 100% record against LA Galaxy II since rebranding from Arizona United.

Los Dos scores most of its goals during the second half. The team is defensively solid, and has recorded a clean sheet in two of its four games in 2020.

 

Los Dos has also lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in three matches this season.

THREE OF THE BEST

Adam Saldana was identified by Rising coach Rick Schantz as one of the more dangerous players on the team. His key attribute is his passing ability, with accuracy at 92.7% for 2020 and similar figures in his past two seasons. The 18-year-old midfielder isn’t afraid to get stuck in, either. He’s won 58.8% of duels this season – a figure that remains mostly constant throughout his career. A frequent face in US youth national team camps, Saldana is yet to record a goal or assist in USL.

Another player to watch out for in the midfield is Jorgé Hernandez. The 19-year-old currently leads the team in creating chances (9 over 4 games), but is yet to record his first assist. He’s a longtime prospect with Los Dos, and made his USL debut at the age of 16 in 2017. Now an established player at this level, he’ll be looking to emulate his teammates who travelled to Florida as soon as possible. His weakness this season? He’s won just 38.2% of duels. If Rising can put him under pressure and challenge Hernandez for the ball, they may well keep him quiet.

Defender Issac Bawa (left) and forward Augustine Williams (right) kneel ahead of Los Dos’ 4-0 loss in Phoenix.

Western Conference veteran Augustine Williams is expected to spearhead Galaxy II’s attack. It’s his second season in Southern California, after previously playing with Portland 2. Williams is currently joint-top scorer along with Kai Koreniuk, although he has played four times as many games as his teammate. This is somewhat consistent with his entire career – Williams has never scored more than seven in a season. Rising has been one of the Sierra Leonean striker’s favorite clubs to face, though, as he’s netted four goals in ten appearances against the Arizonan side.

BACK FROM ORLANDO

Six players who featured in the season opener for Los Dos at RGV travelled to Orlando with the club’s first team for the MLS is Back Tournament. Their involvement was minimal as Galaxy crashed out at the group stage. It remains unclear if they’ll be available for selection today.

Kai Koreniuk was arguably the biggest miss for Los Dos, but he didn’t feature in a single game in Florida. Despite playing just the one game this year, he is Galaxy II’s joint-top goalscorer after scoring a brace against RGV in March. Last season, Koreniuk scored against Rising on his way to 9 goals in 29 appearances. The Dutch youth international signed with Galaxy II from AZ Alkmaar in 2019.

Defensive midfielder Carlos Harvey is another player whose loss has weakened Los Dos since the restart, although he did actually feature in the tournament. It may have been for just a minute at the end of Galaxy’s humiliating loss to LAFC, but that still counts as an appearance, right? The ball-winning Panamanian is a promising midfielder who ranked fourth out of prospects in USL last season. Harvey has been capped once by Panama’s national team at senior level, in the 3-0 friendly loss to the USA in Glendale in 2019, and has also featured in the country’s U-20 World Cup squad.

Cameron Dunbar‘s first season at the professional level was supposed to comprise of a lot of minutes at USL level. Instead, he was the Los Dos player who featured more than any other in the MLS is Back tournament. He featured for 66 minutes during a start against Portland Timbers, but wasn’t involved in either of the other two matches. That Timbers match was his second professional appearance. The first game for the 17-year-old was Los Dos’ 2020 season opener against RGV, in which he scored and recorded an assist. A native of Carson, Dunbar is a youth international and has been with LA Galaxy’s academy since 2017.

Eric Lopez was Galaxy II’s goalkeeper towards the end of last year, and started the game against RGV back in March. He conceded just one goal in that game, while making seven saves. Lopez didn’t see any playing time in the MLS is Back tournament, but was on the bench in all three matches.

Diédié Traoré played for 13 minutes against Houston in Galaxy’s MLS is Back opener. He picked up the assist for LA’s equalizing goal, leading to their only point of the tournament. Traoré is originally from Paris, and was part of Metz’s academy. He signed for LA in 2018 after an open tryout. Traoré split his game time last season between the MLS and USL sides, making just four appearances in each league.

Jonathan Perez was part of the first team squad, but didn’t participate in any game in Florida. At 17 years old, Perez has made just one appearance at professional level in his career. A Californian by birth, he switched allegiances to play for Mexico in a youth tournament back in January.

ONE TOP TALKING POINT

It’s been a long time since Los Dos last played. Yesterday, Rising coach Rick Schantz spoke about the impact that has had on Rising’s preparation, and the Galaxy II squad he’s expecting to face:

From the Ashes Prediction: Rising will be match fit, while Galaxy II won’t be. That’ll be enough for Rising to take home the three points.