CARSON, Calif. – The LA Galaxy will continue their preseason slate on Saturday when they make the trip to Sin City to take on the San Jose Earthquakes.
Curt Onalfo’s squad will take on their archrivals in the second edition of the California Clásico Cup at Las Vegas’ Cashman Field. The Galaxy earned a 1-0 victory over the Quakes a year ago off a goal from Gyasi Zardes.
On the heels of their 1-1 draw with Club Tijuana earlier this week, Saturday’s match is another opportunity for the Galaxy to move forward in their preseason preparations.
“This is our second game and gives us a chance to get the chemistry going even though we won’t have the full group, we’ll use the players that we have,” Sebastian Lletget told LA Galaxy Insider. “It’s a different approach based on the style of play. We know San Jose will be a different type of game as opposed to Tijuana.
“San Jose will be more physical whereas Tijuana were more of a technical team. It’s really good for us to play new opponents and continue to progress.”
The Galaxy will likely be without the services of Gyasi Zardes (knee), Robbie Rogers (ankle), Romain Alessandrini (acquiring visa), once again prompting Onalfo to throw his youthful talent into action. As with Tuesday’s friendly against Xolos, Galaxy II players like Nathan Smith, Ethan Zubak, Jaime Villarreal, and others are expected earn significant minutes in Vegas.
They’ll head into a match that poses a different set of challenges from Tuesday’s preseason match at StubHub Center. Not only with the Galaxy be facing an MLS side for the first time in 2017, but they’ll also need to deal with the close confines of Cashman Field.
After featuring in the match a year ago, Lletget believes that the experience will be a positive one for this young Galaxy team.
“It’s going to challenge us. I think that’s a great thing because we need as many challenges as we can get before we start the season. It’ll be good for our team,” said Lletget. “We need to improve our fitness as a group, and we’re going to be full of good players that will make an impact.”
Adam Serrano is the LA Galaxy Insider. Read his blog atLAGalaxy.com/insiderand contact him atLAGalaxyInsider@Gmail.com.
