INJURY UPDATE

As reported in MLSSoccer.com by Scott French, Marcelo Sarvas will be missing from the Galaxy’s lineup due to an MCL sprain. It’s expected that Sarvas could miss anywhere between 1-2 months with the team. He will not be available for Colorado and it’s likely that Gyasi Zardes is his replacement. Whether or not we see the midfield diamond, with Sarvas gone, is a real question. (Updated by Josh Guesman)

INJURY UPDATE

After two weeks that felt more like two years, the LA Galaxy return to action in a Saturday showdown against the Colorado Rapids. Nobody’s played fewer games than LA, who have seen the field a total of five times this season, and on Saturday we’ll get a good look at whether bye weeks and bizarre scheduling have put the Galaxy at a disadvantage — or if they used their time off to lock down a starting lineup that thus far has resembled a game of musical chairs more than anything else.

Coming off a merciless thumping at the hands of Seattle last week, Colorado will look to regain their footing and display some smarter movement in their offensive third. LA’s back line continues to suffer from injuries — both Todd Dunivant and James Riley won’t make Saturday’s starting lineup. If the Rapids can’t find a way to do more than resort to lobbing long balls at the Galaxy’s handicapped defense, Colorado fans have every right to worry.

For their part, the Galaxy are a team still in the process of figuring out what works. The diamond formation Bruce Arena’s (apparently) settled on is showing promise, but we simply haven’t seen enough games to know whether it’s a keeper. If you’re rooting for LA, there are a couple improvements you’ll want to see Saturday.

First, LA needs somebody to really shine beside Robbie Keane. The Galaxy brought in both Rob Friend and Samuel for exactly that reason — and while Friend has proven a disruptive force, Samuel hasn’t proven much of anything (at least in regular season play). It’d be great to see either of them get serious minutes, especially if it means Donovan can be moved back into the midfield, where his experience as a playmaker is best put to use.

Second, the Galaxy’s back line needs to stop making catastrophic mistakes. It’s early in the season and no one expects the team to be firing on all cylinders. But a little consistency would go a long way toward restoring the fans’ faith in a spotty defense.

PREDICTED LINEUP

GK

Penedo

DEFENSE

Gargan, Gonzalez, Leonardo, DeLaGarza

MIDFIELD

Donovan, Ishizaki (Attacking Center), Juninho (Defensive Center), Sarvas , Zardes

FORWARD

Keane, Friend

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