Wednesday, May 13 | 5:30 p.m. PT
🏟 | Energizer Park - St. Louis, MO
🖥 | WATCH: Apple TV | Coupang Play (Korea), SpoTV (Korea), Local Bar Partners
📻 | LISTEN: 710 AM ESPN, ESPN LA App, SiriusXM FC 157 KFWB 980 AM La Mera Mera (Spanish), & KYPA 1230 AM (Korean)
LAFC hits the road once again, this time to face St. Louis CITY SC at Energizer Park in St. Louis, Missouri, with three points on the line and three matches left before the FIFA international break ahead of the World Cup.
The Black & Gold stands in third place in the Western Conference standings and sixth place in the MLS Supporters’ Shield race, with 21 points and a record of 6W-3L-3D.
The club has endured a packed schedule and a tough run of form since its inspiring draw against Cruz Azul in Puebla, Mexico, on April 14, which pushed LAFC into the Concacaf Champions Cup Semifinals. Since then LAFC has continued playing every three-and-a-half days on average, facing rivals and top-of-the table MLS opponents while being eliminated from Champions Cup by defending Liga MX champions Toluca. In all, LAFC has gone 2W-3L-2D over its last seven matches in all competitions.
“It shows right now we're paying a little bit of the price of everything since the beginning of the season,” head coach Marc Dos Santos said after Saturday’s home loss to Houston, referring to the club’s all-or-nothing pursuit of the Champions Cup trophy. “But I know we'll get out of it. I know the group. I know the mentality. I know what they want, so I have full confidence that we're going to bounce back. ”
That response will unfold in St. Louis, just 70 hours after the final whistle of LAFC’s home defeat on Sunday night.
Forward Son Heung-Min leads Major League Soccer in assists (8), and fellow forward Denis Bouanga leads LAFC in goals scored (5).
Goalie Hugo Lloris leads MLS in clean sheets, recording eight in eleven starts, three more than the next closest player.
Winger-midfielder David Martínez has tallied three goals and two assists in league play, and midfielder Mathieu Choiniére (who like Son is expected to compete for his country in the World Cup this summer) has scored two goals and two assists. Both of Choinière’s goals came in LAFC’s 2-0 win over St. Louis on March 14.
SCOUTING ST. LOUIS
Led by first-year head coach Yoann Damet, St. Louis currently stands in 14th place in the Western Conference with nine points from 11 matches and a record of 2W-6L-3D. CITY has scored 10 goals (second-fewest in MLS) and allowed 18 for a goal differential of minus-8. St. Louis has a home record of 1W-2L-1D, with its lone win at Energizer Park coming against a strong New England side (7W-3L-1D).
Goalkeeper Roman Bürki has started every match and played every minute of his side’s MLS schedule this year, registering 32 saves.
German attacking midfielder Marcel Hartel leads STL in goals with three. Seven players have scored one goal each. Striker Simon Becher leads the club with three assists.
Winger Jeong Sang-bin, who is making a push to join LAFC’s Son on the South Korean national team at the World Cup this summer, scored the only goal in St. Louis’ last outing, a 1-0 road win over Colorado that saw both sides combine for just three shots on goal.
CITY advanced to the U.S. Open Cup Quarterfinals two weeks ago and can move on to the Semifinals when it hosts the Houston Dynamo on May 19 at Energizer Park.
THE SERIES
LAFC defeated St. Louis 2-0 in Los Angeles earlier this season, with both goals coming from long range off the right foot of Choinière. The win continued LAFC’s unbeaten run against the 2023 expansion side, to whom it has never lost in seven all-time meetings (5W-0L-2D).
St. Louis has scored against LAFC in only one match, a 2-2 draw last April (4/27/25). The Black & Gold has registered a clean sheet in each of the other six meetings.
Bouanga, LAFC’s all-time leading goal scorer, has tallied six of his 111 goals for the Black & Gold against St. Louis, including a brace in April 2025 that was capped by a stoppage-time equalizer nominated for 2025 MLS Goal of the Year:
Last September, Bouanga scored the opener in a 3-0 home win over St. Louis in which Son recorded a brace.
Earlier this month against San Diego, Bouanga scored his 70th career MLS regular-season goal. Only 50 other players in league history have reached that mark.
LAFC WILL WIN IF
It digs deep. Hailed as one of the deepest and most talented rosters in MLS, the Black & Gold has been unable to engage in meaningful training sessions for more than a month, playing every weekend and every midweek since April 4. Without time together on the practice field, Dos Santos’ men have had to focus mainly on recovery and playing on instinct.
“The biggest problem is we don't have time to breathe,” Dos Santos said. “As soon as we want to train or work on something, we're playing another game, then playing another game. That's the hardest part for us right now. ”
Talent and depth are powerful weapons, however, and if LAFC can access both at Energizer Park, three points on the road would allow for a breath – albeit not a very deep one – before going again in Nashville this weekend (Sun. May 17).
ST. LOUIS CITY CAN WIN IF
It is effective in transition. After starting its season on an MLS-record scoreless run, LAFC’s fatigue and foreign travels have combined to make the Black & Gold appear vulnerable in transition defending as of late. Only one club in MLS has scored fewer goals than St. Louis this year (Sporting KC), but CITY's gamewinner last weekend came on a quick, coast-to-coast attack finished by Jeong Sang-bin.
