Vanney: "When we're at full strength, we can beat anyone in the play-offs"

LA Galaxy head coach Greg Vanney believes his side are strong enough to take on any opponent in the play-offs if they have a fully fit squad.

With two weeks of the regular season remaining, the Galaxy sit 10th in the Western Conference and have yet to secure their play-off place. The Los Angeles side host Austin FC on Saturday before travelling to ninth-placed Real Salt Lake for the final match of the regular season, known as 'Decision Day'.

With the Galaxy just one point behind RSL, who occupy the last wild-card spot, head coach Vanney is putting his faith in the quality of his players:

"The real key here is getting ourselves into the play-offs. Once we do that, I think we can play with anybody. When the injuries clear up and Chucky [Hirving Lozano], Kyogo [Furuhashi] and Marco [Reus] are back, we have a great group of players who can start in the 11 and come off the bench to make an impact. We've lost only three or so of our last 14 matches. We don't give opponents an easy ride and we're a hard team to beat. We rotated away at St. Louis and took a bit of a beating, but I think that was an exception. Overall, I don't think anyone will want to be drawn against us once we're in the play-offs. Because of all the transfer activity in the summer, we've been a team that came together a little late, but if we finish the job over the last two weeks, we'll be one of the most dangerous teams in the play-offs."

Austin's play-off hopes, meanwhile, were extinguished after a 2-1 home defeat by RSL in midweek. Austin went ahead through Jorge Alastuey's goal but could not hold on to the victory they needed to stay in the race.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

LA Galaxy – Joseph Paintsil Joseph Paintsil scored twice in the drawn derby against Los Angeles FC, recording his first multi-goal performance of the season.

Austin FC – Jorge Alastuey Making his 15th MLS appearance on Wednesday, Alastuey registered the first goal contribution of his career with a second-half strike. The youngster has now recorded at least one shot in each of his last three outings, following a run of six matches without a shot.

PRE-MATCH STATS

Unbeaten in their last seven home matches (W4, D3), LA Galaxy suffered their most recent defeat at Dignity Health Sports Park at the end of July. It is the side's longest home run since the 12-match unbeaten streak that carried them to the 2024 MLS Cup title.

Austin, for their part, have collected 13 points from their last six away matches (W4, D1, L1). Austin, who beat LA Galaxy 2-1 at Dignity Health Sports Park last July, had lost their first four away matches against the Galaxy before picking up their first points there.