Saturday, Sept. 27 | 5:30 p.m. PT
🏟 | Energizer Park - St. Louis, MO
📻 | 710 AM ESPN, ESPN LA App, KFWB 980 AM La Mera Mera (Spanish), & KYPA 1230 AM (Korean)
🗓 | Calendar sync
Coming off a record-setting performance at home last Sunday and seeking its fourth straight win, LAFC visits St. Louis CITY SC on Saturday night at Energizer Park in St. Louis, Missouri.
LAFC has won three straight games and sits in fourth place in the Western Conference with a record of 14W-7L-8D. The Black & Gold has already secured its seventh trip to the MLS Cup Playoffs in the club’s eight-year existence, and now seeks a top-four finish – perhaps even a top-three or top-two finish.
With five games remaining, and with one or two games in hand on each of the three teams above it in the table—first-place San Diego, second-place Vancouver, and third-place Minnesota— the higher LAFC rises in the standings, the greater its chances of hosting home games deep into the playoffs.
St. Louis CITY, meanwhile, is fighting for its playoff life. The third-year club sits in 13th place in Western Conference with a record of 7W-17L-7D. St. Louis has not been mathematically eliminated from advancing to the postseason, but the window is closing. On their side is an always boisterous home crowd at Energizer Park, which draws 20,000-plus fans no matter the team’s form.
ROAD WELL TRAVELED
LAFC is 5W-3L-6D on the road in MLS play in 2025 and is unbeaten in its last ten MLS road matches (4W-0L-6D). The Black & Gold hasn’t lost away from BMO Stadium since April 5 in Houston.
“We've had a lot of away games recently,” LAFC head coach Steve Cherundolo told the media after training on Thursday, “and our performances have been pretty good. That's very encouraging. That was also the goal, to treat everything at this stage of the season like a playoff game, and the players have responded very well to those words. Now we have another one, a very difficult task in St. Louis.”
SON-IC BOOM
Forward and MLS Newcomer of the Year candidate Son Heung-Min has already recorded six goals and three assists in just seven appearances since he joined LAFC in early August. Son has played only 550 minutes (15th on the team among non-goalkeepers) but he is already LAFC’s second-leading goal scorer and ranks second in shots on target as well (16).
“No doubt Sonny's arrival has given us some confidence—some energy overall as an organization really,” Cherundolo said of the former Tottenham star. “Just some fresh wind in our sails.”
“I feel very lucky to play with Sonny,” said teenage winger David Martínez. “It's a dream come true to be able to play alongside him … He's very easy to adapt to, he's a very intelligent player, and he's a great teammate.”
DANGEROUS DENIS
Denis Bouanga’s hat trick in Sunday’s 4-1 win over RSL marked the third straight game in which an LAFC player recorded three goals— an MLS record. (Bouanga did it vs. San Jose on Sept. 13 and Son did it on Sept. 17 vs. RSL.) It was also Bouanga’s third hat trick this month, including his three-goal performance for his home country, Gabon, in World Cup qualifying on Sept. 3.
To say he’s on tear would be an understatement. After opening the season with no goals in his first six MLS appearances, Bouanga has scored 22 goals in his last 22 MLS appearances. That total currently has him in second place in the MLS Golden Boot race, behind Lionel Messi of Inter Miami (24 goals).
Having just become the only player in MLS history to record three straight 20-goal seasons, Bouanga, who won the 2023 MLS Golden Boot in his first full season after transferring from France’s top division, is now seeking to become just the third man in MLS history to win multiple Golden Boots. “I owe that to the team and to the coach,” Bouanga said following Sunday’s hat trick. “I feel very good here. I feel very good with my family, so I owe a lot to them. To everybody. I just feel very good at this moment.”
SCOUTING ST. LOUIS
LAFC is unbeaten all-time against St. Louis CITY, going 3W-0L-2D in their five previous meetings, all MLS regular-season games.
In their most recent matchup on April 26 at BMO Stadium, LAFC came from behind twice to secure a 2-2 draw. Bouanga scored twice, including a thrilling equalizer in the fifth minute of stoppage time that saw him dribble half the length of the field before cutting back, outmaneuvering two defenders, and beating STL keeper Ben Lundt at the far post.
Forward Cedric Teuchert, who scored the opening goal that day, hasn’t played since late July due to a lower body injury.
Brazilian striker João Klauss leads St. Louis with nine goals. German midfielder Marcel Hartel leads the club with 13 goal contributions (seven goals, six assists), and ranks fourth in all of MLS in key passes, with 86. (A key pass is a pass that leads directly to a shot on goal but does not result in a goal.)
KOREAN CONNECTION
Like Son, St. Louis forward Jeong Sang-bin hails from South Korea and featured for his country’s national team in its two friendlies in the United States earlier this month. The 23-year-old made 70 appearances for Minnesota United from 2023 until his trade to St. Louis two months ago. “He's an exciting player, an interesting player,” Cherundolo said. “I think it's great for Korean fans to see [two Korean stars in MLS]. Me personally, I would love to see more of that and I can imagine Korean fans [would] as well.”
IN-N-OUT
LAFC midfielder Timmy Tillman will be unavailable Saturday due to yellow-card accumulation. With forward Nathan Ordaz still dealing with a leg injury, the Black & Gold could send recently acquired Romanian attacker Alexandru Bǎluța onto the field for his MLS debut. Another new arrival, 21-year-old Ireland international Andy Moran, recorded his first assist for LAFC on Sunday night, in just his third appearance.
“He's been great,” Cherundolo said of Moran. “A lot of positive energy, not just in personality and character but also on the field, and I think that is really helpful for us, especially at this stage of the season when you're adding players. It lifts everybody else up.”

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ST. LOUIS CAN WIN IF
Its recent form holds. A month after St. Louis’ 2-2 draw with LAFC in LA, the club parted ways with manager Olof Mellberg and replaced him with interim head coach David Critchley. The club has gone 5W-9L-2D since that move, but has surged as of late, winning two straight, both on the road, and going unbeaten in its last three. The club’s last four defeats have all been by one goal, including a 3-2 heartbreaker in Vancouver.
In St. Louis’ last outing, a 3-1 win in San Jose, rookie Brendan McSorley made the most of his first career MLS start, recording two goals and an assist to account for all of St. Louis’ scoring.
LAFC CAN WIN IF
It keeps the accelerator floored. LAFC has lost just two of its last 12 matches (7W-2L-3D) including a 4W-1L-2D run since Son arrived in LA. The club’s current three-game win streak is its second such streak this year. LAFC has not won four in a row since closing the 2024 regular season with five straight victories. That strong finish earned the team the top seed in the West. Cherundolo, whose next win will be his 100th as LAFC’s manager across all competitions, wouldn’t mind a similar run to end 2025.
“The importance of the end of the season is, for us, to maximize our output in points,” he said. “We have six games left and I have no objection to winning all six. I know that's probably unrealistic but we are certainly going to do our best to win this first one in St. Louis.”