It was a result which Bruce Arena referred to as "awful" at Orlando City. The defending MLS Cup champs, the Los Angeles Galaxy (3-5-4, 14 Points) will be looking to rebound quickly from their 4-0 loss in the Sunshine State when they fly home to host the Houston Dynamo (4-4-4, 16 Points) on Friday night.
ODDS ANALYSIS
The Galaxy have been incredibly public all season long, certainly to a fault. The big names aren't walking through that door until Steven Gerrard arrives from England in a few weeks, and the departed Landon Donovan hasn't successfully been replaced.
That said, LA is going to be the favorite in this match, perhaps by an odds-on margin, though it should be close either way.
KEY INJURIES
The injury list isn't helping out Arena and the Galaxy any. The team may or may not have Omar Gonzalez in this fixture due to a knee injury, while Robbie Rogers and Todd Dunivant both seem unlikely to play a role here against Houston to thin out the LA back line.
A total of 13 different players have missed at least one game due to injury this year for LA.
Houston should welcome back Brad Davis to its midfield on Friday night, though Nathan Sturgis is still a question mark with his shoulder dislocation.
QUOTE TO NOTE
"We were awful on the day. Out of 14 players that played, I thought about three of them played in an acceptable manner. We were outplayed all over the field, and really, there's not much you can say. You go into a game and most players lose their battles on the field, you don't have a chance to win." – Galaxy manager Bruce Arena, lambasting his team for a poor showing in Orlando on Sunday
RECENT FORM
Things are really out of control right now for Los Angeles. The team has been beaten in consecutive matches, and it is winless in its five duels overall with just three total points to show for its work in that stretch.
The Dynamo have suddenly strung a couple wins together against Toronto FC and Portland. Those victories aren't against the cream of the crop, but at least building some confidence should be helpful.
TALKING TOTALS
Clearly, the 4-0 loss to Orlando went past the total, but this hasn't been the norm for the Galaxy. They had played three unders in four games prior to that, and under backers were incredibly unlucky in the 2-1 loss at FC Dallas on May 9 as well.
Thanks to a flurry of five goals in two matches, back-to-back games have gone past the total for the Dynamo.
ANALYSIS AND PREDICTION
Giles Barnes is on fire right now for Houston, and he very well could be the best attacker on the pitch on Friday night.
The Galaxy bother us with the way they have played. They just don't look like a strong team, and their offense has been atrocious. Alan Gordon is their best offensive threat, and he isn't even ranked in the Top 20 in the league in total shots or shots on goal. In fact, no one on this team is.
Still, after getting laced into by Arena, we have to think that the Galaxy are going to come to play in this match. Houston probably isn't going to win it, but the fact that you'll probably get around even money on the Asian Handicap at +0.5, we think there is a real opportunity here to cash in on the hot visitors.
Los Angeles 1, Houston 1
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