Could 3, 2025; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Vancouver Whitecaps FC defender Tristan Blackmon (33) battles for the ball towards Actual Salt Lake foward William Agada (9) in the course of the second half at BC Place. Necessary Credit score: Simon Fearn-Imagn Photos The Vancouver Whitecaps will look to strengthen their place atop the MLS standings on Sunday once they welcome a Los Angeles FC facet that’s making an attempt to play its manner again into rivalry following a gradual begin.
The Whitecaps (8-1-2, 26 factors) have been the story of MLS in 2025.
Vancouver earned its first-ever look within the 2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup last with its semifinal sequence win over Lionel Messi and Inter Miami late final month. And remarkably, the Whitecaps additionally performed to the very best report within the league whereas balancing each competitions.
Supervisor Jesper Sorensen’s facet has gained back-to-back league matches and is unbeaten in its final six in MLS play.
The Whitecaps dispatched Actual Salt Lake 2-1 at residence final Saturday on objectives from Jayden Nelson and Tristan Blackmon. That got here solely three days after finishing their CONCACAF semifinal triumph in South Florida.
Now Sorensen’s staff hits the sphere following one thing uncommon: eight days between matches.
“You all the time welcome a bit break,” Sorensen mentioned. “We have now performed 19 video games already. So perhaps it is a good event to get one thing finished on the coaching floor as effectively. However however … yeah we now have momentum. And you do not wish to break that up should you can keep away from it.”
LAFC (5-4-2, 17 factors) was thought of among the many early MLS Cup favorites when the season started, and supervisor Steve Cherundolo’s facet might but attain that standing.
However their early league type was inconsistent as they performed by means of to the CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinals, the place they misplaced to Miami.
The response to that exit has been a four-match unbeaten run, with the newest efficiency — a 2-0 residence win over the Houston Dynamo on objectives from Nathan Ordaz and Jeremy Ebobisse — arguably probably the most full Cherundolo has seen this season. It adopted attracts at Portland and residential to St. Louis.
“We began enjoying higher with the ball and creating extra probabilities in Portland. Made some defensive errors. St. Louis was extra of the identical,” Cherundolo mentioned after the Houston win. “After which tonight I noticed a extra full efficiency on either side of the ball and was very proud of the best way we performed tonight.”
–Area Degree Media
