On Saturday, the Los Angeles Galaxy and Chivas USA will square off for the first time in the 2011 regular MLS season. In this Los Angeles derby, the Galaxy will have the home advantage, but surely plenty of Chivas supporters will show up at the Home Depot Center.

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The LA Galaxy will step on the pitch on Saturday evening with a tremendous amount of confidence. First of all, Los Angeles has held the number one spot on the MLS league standings for most of the season, and the Galaxy comes into this match with 20 points earned in 12 games.

Despite having the best record in the league, the Galaxy has struggled in early May. A loss followed by two consecutive draws are not satisfactory results for the league’s highest ranked team.

In the most recent game against Sporting Kansas City, the Los Angeles squad put on its best performance of the season. Immediately after halftime, Landon Donovan scored two goals within several minutes. This marked Donovan’s 110th career MLS goal, the fourth best scoring performance in the league’s history. After struggling all season long, Juan Pablo Angel finally found his rhythm by scoring his second goal of the season. David Beckham put the icing on the cake with a late free kick (his first goal of the season) that lead to a final score of 4-1.

Coming in with a 3-3-3 record, Chivas has got to be intimidated by the Galaxy’s recent momentum. Nevertheless, Chivas won three of its last four games, something coach Fraser can use to motivate his team. Forwards Alejandro Moreno and Justin Braun each have three goals this season, a solid offensive performance that can threaten the Galaxy.

With two months into the 2011 MLS season, the Los Angeles Galaxy find themselves on a similar path to repeating last year’s success of having the best record in the league. In eight games, the Galaxy has compiled 15 points so far, something that no other team has been able to do.

The Galaxy are a slight +150 favorite, FC Dallas is at +160 and a Draw is +225 in soccer betting lines.

The Los Angeles has great momentum right now, as they finished April with two solid victories. Plagued by a knee injury all season long, captain Landon Donovan finally made his 2011 debut. Donovan’s first appearance was impressive, as he scored two goals against the Portland Timbers, while Chad Barrett scored the other goal. The 3-0 victory against Portland was the best performance for the Galaxy in 2011.

David Beckham, who was recently suspended for a match, is back on the roster for LA. With that being said, the return of Landon Donovan will lead the Galaxy into a positive direction and help Los Angeles stay on top of the MLS league table for the second straight year.

F.C. Dallas has 7 points in six games so far, as inconsistency has been the issue for coach Hyndman’s squad. Dallas lost the first game of April, won the second, lost the third, and won the fourth. This type of roller coaster performance will not go far, especially to the MLS Cup route. On Sunday May 1st, the only factor Dallas F.C. can count on is the home crowd. However, the LA Galaxy will confidently step on the field at Pizza Hut Park knowing that a loss hasn’t been part of the team’s vocabulary since late March.

On Saturday April 9th, the New York Red Bulls will encounter Philadelphia Union for the first time in the 2011 MLS season. Since it is so early in the season, it is hard to make definite predictions about what is going to happen in this game. Nevertheless, the first few weeks of the season provided some insight about the form of the Red Bulls and the Union.

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Each team has different expectations for the 2011 season. The Red Bulls are looking forward to having a similar record to the previous season, in which they finished number one in the Eastern Conference. Additionally, coach Hans Backe wants his New York team to surpass last season’s quarterfinals appearance in the MLS Cup.

New York faces a challenge this season because they’ve lost one of their star players Juan Pablo Angel, who joined the LA Galaxy for 2011. On the bright side, the Red Bulls still have international superstars Thierry Henry and Rafael Marquez. Also, the team’s 2010 MVP Joel Lindpere is looking to step up this year once again.

New York Red Bulls got off to a respectable start in 2011. They won the season opener 1-0 against Seattle Sounders, and then finished the following games with draws against Columbus Crew and Houston Dynamo.

Philadelphia Union is a young franchise that hopes to make the playoffs in its second season in the MLS. Philadelphia started the season slightly better than New York. The Union won the first two games of the season, but recently lost to Los Angeles Galaxy. The only sure factor about Saturday’s evening is that Philadelphia can feed off its home crowd at the PPL Park.

Although March marked the beginning of the 2011 MLS season, there has already been plenty of exciting action for the Philadelphia Union and Los Angeles Galaxy. On Saturday April 2, the two teams will face each other for the first time this season. The Galaxy will have the home advantage as they host Union at the Home Depot Center for an evening match.

According to various sports betting sites, MLS Betting Odds have the Galaxy as a -160 favorite while the Union are a +460 underdog.

The fledgling Philadelphia Union has got off to a great start in its second season in the MLS. The goal for the team is clear, which is to improve from last year’s record and qualify for the MLS Cup as well as other competitions such as U.S. Open Cup and CONCACAF. By late march, Philadelphia Union sat at the top of the standings in the Eastern Conference.

In the season opening game, the Philadelphia Union defeated former MLS Cup champions Houston Dynamo 1-0. The Union surprised nearly 20,000 Houston fans at the Robertson Stadium as Vice captain Danny Cardiff scored an early goal in the fifth minute. Days later, Philadelphia pleased its home crowd by defeating the Vancouver Whitecaps 1-0 thanks to the effort of striker Carlos Ruiz.

The Los Angeles Galaxy got off to a less impressive start in 2011. They won the opening game against Seattle Sounders FC 1-0, ended with a 1-1 tie against New England Revolution, and lost 1-4 to Real Salt Lake. However, it is important to remember that Los Angeles is a star studded team that may do some real damage as the season progresses. Besides having David Beckham and Landon Donovan, the Galaxy have added some serious firepower to its squad by getting New York’s star striker Juan Pablo Angel and the young Brazilian Juninho.

Major League Soccer has added two new teams. The Whitecaps, located in Vancouver, and the Timbers, located in Portland. Vancouver becomes the second Canadian soccer club in MLS.

The two teams recently took steps in building their squads by means of the expansion draft.

The first overall selection was made by the Timbers. The chose midfielder Dax McCarthy of FC Dallas. He would later be traded to DC United in exchange for midfielder/defender Rodney Wallace.

Timber general manager Gavin Wilkinson said this about Wallace, “Rodney is a young, yet proven MLS player who again gives us great versatility with his ability to play several positions.” Portland would make a trade with New York for Jeremy Hall. Hall was a college team mate of Rodney Wallace.
They would go on to draft two members if the US national team, but both players plan to play overseas next year, nor in the MLS.

Vancouver chose Sanna Nvassi of the Seattle Sounders as their first pick. Atiba Harris would be their next selection.

The expansion draft consisted of players on the 16 clubs in the MLS. Each club could protect eleven players but all other players were available to the two expansion teams.

On Saturday August 28, 2010, the Los Angeles Galaxy will host the Kansas City Wizards at the Home Depot Center. Kick off will be at 7:30 P.M Pacific Time, as a large crowd is expected to fill the stadium for this weekend game.

The previous meeting between the two teams in April ended with a scoreless draw. But the next game is going to be a different story.

The clash between Los Angeles and Kansas City may not be full of surprises but the soccer betting odds will definitely be an interesting one. The preview for this game is based on nothing more than pure statistics. The Galaxy are currently the best team in the MLS, compiling 43 points in 21 games. As of the last week of August, Los Angeles leads the league in most goals scored (32) and wins (13.) The stats say that LA Galaxy should easily beat Kansas City Wizards on Saturday. Manager Bruce Arena has done an excellent job in keeping his team at top of the league table.

However, LA Galaxy have lost 3 games in August, which somewhat disrupted the team’s momentum as the undisputed kings of the MLS. A Loss to Chicago Fire and San Jose Earthquakes shook up Galaxy’s confidence. Even a friendly 3-2 loss to European powerhouse Real Madrid was demoralizing.

On the other side, Kansas City Wizards had some mixed results in August including a draw with Real Salt Lake and a convincing 4-1 victory over New England Revolution. The Wizards only have 23 points in 20 games, and are ranked fifth in the Eastern Conference. What the Wizards and Galaxy share in common is a loss to the Earthquakes in August. Based on the most recent results, Kansas City may take advantage of Los Angeles’ inconsistent performance in August.

When the game day arrives, there are high expectations on the attacking forces of Landon Donovan and Edson Buddle to lead the Galaxy to an easy victory. The Wizards are just a mediocre team, and will be nothing more than underdogs trying to stop a powerhouse. There is simply not enough star part on the Kansas City squad to stop the best team in the league.