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Starting XI

Clement Diop; Nathan Smith, Dave Romney, Jelle Van Damme ©, Ashley Cole; João Pedro, Jaime Villarreal; Gyasi Zardes, Jose Villarreal, Emmanuel Boateng; Jack McBean.

Bench

Jon Kempin, Hugo Arellano, Rafael Garcia, Bradford Jamieson IV, Romain Alessandrini, Ariel Lassiter, Jack McInerney.

Lineup notes

The LA Galaxy will hit the road for a midweek matchup against the Western Conference Colorado Rapids in the Mile High City.
With a busy schedule ahead, Head Coach Curt Onalfo will again play a 4-2-3-1 formation on Wednesday while making four changes from their last contest: Jelle Van Damme, Jaime Villarreal, Jose Villarreal and Jack McBean will all start in place of Hugo Arellano, Rafael Garcia, Romain Alessandrini and Jack McInerney.
Note: the LA Galaxy lineup will feature seven Homegrown Players/LA Galaxy II products that developed with Los Dos (Diop, Smith, Romney, Ja. Villarreal, Zardes, Jo. Villarreal, Jack McBean). Six of those players were either signed directly from LA Galaxy II or have spent significant time playing for Los Dos over the past few years.
In net, Clement Diop will make his second-straight start after returning to the lineup from an injury earlier in the year. Diop returns to the lineup after a few weeks recovering from a hip injury suffered in Orlando. Wednesday will mark his ninth start in MLS after excelling at the USL level in previous seasons with LA Galaxy II.
On the right, the LA Galaxy Academy and LA Galaxy II product Nathan Smith makes his second-straight start and the seventh of his MLS career. Smith showed promise early in the season when called upon and will look to have a similar performance Wednesday night.
In the center of the defense, fellow LA Galaxy II product Dave Romney will make the start, marking his sixth of the season and the 16^th of his MLS career. Romney has been an extremely valuable member of the backline this season, playing in numerous positions and excelling in all of them.
He’s big, bald, beautiful, Belgian, and most importantly, he’s back. Jelle Van Damme will captain the side Wednesday evening and will lead the Galaxy backline after serving a one-game suspension for yellow card accumulation.
On the left, the ageless, the timeless and the priceless competitor Ashley Cole makes his 12^th start of the year and the 37^th of his MLS career. At 36 years of age, Cole is the best left back in Major League Soccer.
Making his first-ever MLS start is Academy product, Galaxy II standout and Inglewood native Jaime Villarreal. Jaime has made three brief appearances in MLS this season, and is coming off a strong performance last Wednesday in the Galaxy’s 3-1 U.S. Open Cup victory.
Alongside Villarreal in the center is the talented Portuguese midfielder João Pedro, who will make his 15^th start of the season. João has played muito bom (for casual Portuguese speakers, this means ‘very good’) in recent weeks. With Alessandrini out of the 11, Pedro is now the only player to start in each MLS game this season for LA.
On the right side of the midfield, Gyasi Zardes will slide out wide for his second-straight match after playing up top to start the season. Zardes was hit with sickness before last weekend’s game and will look to bounce back Wednesday night in full health.
In the center of the midfield, Jose Villarreal makes his second MLS start of the season after scoring a banger last week in the U.S. Open Cup game. Wednesday night will mark the first-ever time that brothers Jose and Jaime have started together in an MLS match.
On the left, he is oh-so-small-and-oh-so-fast, Emmanuel Boateng will make his 12^th start of the season, coming off a solid goal this weekend against the Houston Dynamo
Up top, Jack McBean will make his fourth start of the season. The 22-year-old striker has already made 12 MLS starts and scored two goals and added three assists during his MLS career.

Game notes

The Galaxy travel to Colorado for the first time since their 2016 MLS Cup Playoffs exit, when a 1-1 aggregate saw the Rapids advance after a 3-1 victory in penalty kicks.
Both clubs currently sit on the opposite side of the red line now though, with the Galaxy in 7th and the Rapids in 10th.
The Galaxy will bring the league’s best away record to Colorado, looking for the same magic that produced a 3-0-1 record in a stretch of four road games last month.
Romain Alessandrini leads MLS in away goals with five, and along with Giovani dos Santos, was the focal point of the Galaxy’s season-reviving run away from home.
LA are 4-2-1 on the road this season.

Storylines

Can the Galaxy remain unbeaten in eight-straight games?
Will the Galaxy continue a string of strong performances on the road?
How will the adjusted lineup fare on the road after a short turnaround?
How will Jack McBean look up top?
What will the central midfield combination of Jaime Villarreal and Joao Pedro yield?
How will Jose Villarreal fare in the #10 role?
Who wears baldness better between Tim Howard and Jelle Van Damme?

Quick Hits

You Wild Colorado – Johnny Cash Lyrics

Oh you wild raging Galaxy like my woman's lips you lure me

Pied piper of the desert roll on to the sea

You're the same at noon or midnight and I follow where you go

But you're planning no returning you wild Colorado Galaxy

If I had no love of life I'd become part of your flow

But I fear the place you'd take me you wild Colorado Galaxy

Oh you wild raging team from the fountains of the mountains

You ripple down the valleys growing wide and swift and deep

With what powed you cut your canyons how long ago

You're as wayward as my woman you wild Colorado Galaxy

If I had no love of life...

-Johnny Cash (1965)

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Starting XI: LA Galaxy vs. Colorado Rapids | June 21, 2017