The Vancouver Whitecaps can clinch a Major League Soccer Western Conference playoff spot with a win Tuesday night over Los Angeles FC at Banc of California Stadium.
The past three months have seen the Whitecaps (12-9-11, 47 points) lose only twice as they have rocketed into playoff contention. Their record since Aug. 8 is 9-2-5.
Now, the Canadian side sits one win away from its first postseason berth since 2017, and a good deal of its recent success has come under interim head coach Vanni Sartini, who parted ways with Marc Dos Santos on Aug. 27. Vancouver is on a four-match unbeaten streak with three wins, and has a win and a draw against LAFC in two previous meetings this season.
“We know that if we win, we are in the playoffs, basically, and we need to get away from there with a result,” Sartini said Sunday. “So we need to try to go there and be the best version of ourselves. We have to do another very good performance and I think we’ll do it.”
LAFC (12-12-8, 44 points) could either vault into the playoff picture Tuesday with a win, or be eliminated altogether with a loss. If their rivals LA Galaxy defeat Seattle on Monday, a loss to the Whitecaps on Tuesday knocks LAFC out of postseason contention.
LAFC has made the postseason three times in its three previous seasons of existence.
LAFC has stayed alive thanks to a strong October in which they went undefeated, with three wins and two draws. The team got a needed 3-0 win over the Seattle Sounders on Oct. 26 at home in its most recent match.
“In moments when we are not pressing we are compact, so we’re difficult to break down,” LAFC head coach Bob Bradley told the Los Angeles Daily News. “We made it hard on the other team, which is important in big games.”
–Field Level Media
