LAFC set for first visit to expansion San Diego FC

San Diego and Los Angeles possess a strong baseball rivalry with the Padres and Dodgers.

Now, the MLS gets its first chance to see if the two cities can start another rivalry on Saturday night when expansion club San Diego FC hosts Los Angeles FC in a matchup of teams off to quick starts.

San Diego (2-1-2, 8 points) went unbeaten in its first four contests, including an impressive 2-0 win over the Los Angeles Galaxy in its season opener on Feb. 23 along with a 3-1 win at Real Salt Lake on March 8.

San Diego FC scored five goals in their first three contests but have been held to two in the past two weeks. After settling for a 1-1 draw with the Columbus Crew, San Diego took a 2-1 loss at Austin FC last week.

San Diego was forced to attempt a comeback for most of last week when it allowed two goals in the opening 19 minutes. Luca de la Torre scored on a deflection in the 27th, but San Diego FC mustered just four shots on target.

"We just continue to focus on ourselves, our process, our performance," San Diego FC coach Mikey Varas said Thursday. "We want to have a bounce-back performance from the Austin game and continue building on the things we've done really well."

San Diego played with five regulars due to injuries or international responsibilities.

Marcus Ingvartsen, Hirving Lozano and Andres Reyes were out because of injuries while Paddy McNair and Anibal Godoy played for their respective national teams. Lozano, McNair and Godoy are expected to play on Saturday.

LAFC (3-2-0, 9 points) have yet to score more than two goals in an MLS contest, but they have three shutout victories so far. Los Angeles bounced back from a pair of losses to the Seattle Sounders and Austin FC by earning a 2-0 win at Sporting Kansas City last week.

David Martinez and Aaron Long scored against SKC and the defense allowed just three shots on target as LAFC survived the absences of 2023 Golden Boot winner Denis Bouanga (international duty) and Olivier Giroud (injury).

Los Angeles FC coach Steve Cherundolo is set to return to San Diego, where he grew up.

"Rivalries need time to grow and intensify, but they can get off to a good start. It also depends on how emotional matches are," Cherundolo told the team's official website. "It kind of hinges on how the first couple of games unfold, and then you go from there."

--Field Level Media