Saturday, March 1 | 7:30 p.m. PT
🏟: BMO Stadium - Los Angeles, CA
đź“»: 710 AM ESPN, ESPN LA App, and KFWB 980 AM La Mera Mera
Saturday night LAFC welcomes New York City Football Club (NYCFC) to the Heart of Los Angeles for the second game of each team’s 2025 MLS regular season. The bicoastal, inter-conference clash pits not only the United States’ two most populous cities against one another, but two of two of the most successful clubs in MLS over the last few years.
Since LAFC entered MLS in 2018, the Black & Gold has recorded more goals, wins, and points than any team in the league, claiming two Supporters’ Shields (2019, 2022) and an MLS Cup (2022) along the way. NYCFC ranks just behind LAFC in those areas: third in total goals scored since ’18, and fourth in wins and points, plus NYCFC took home MLS Cup in 2021.
Predictably, both clubs’ expectations are high for 2025.
IN FORM ADVERSARIES
LAFC’s revamped roster has not allowed a goal at home yet this year, notching a clean sheet in its season-opening 1-0 win against Minnesota United as well as its Concacaf Champions Cup elimination match with Colorado, also a 1-0 win.
Midfielder Mark Delgado scored his first goal in an LAFC shirt in the Colorado victory, which ended the Rapids’ Concacaf Champions Cup journey and pushed LAFC into that competition’s Round of 16.
Another LAFC newcomer, forward Jeremy Ebobisse, scored his first goal for the club in last Saturday’s regular-season opener against MNUFC, which marked the eighth straight season that LAFC has won its MLS debut, a league record.
NYCFC, meanwhile, kept its 2024 roster largely intact during the offseason after constructing the current group through its academy and the transfer market over the last two years. Last weekend the Pigeons played Inter Miami to a 2-2 draw in South Florida after Lionel Messi and the defending Supporters’ Shield winners were reduced to ten men in the 23rd minute due to a red card.
In the 26th minute NYCFC defender Mitja IleniÄŤ finished a clever free-kick pass from Maxi Moralez. A 55th-minute strike by Alonso MartĂnez following a Miami giveaway gave the Pigeons a 2-1 lead before Miami scored the equalizer ten minutes into stoppage time.
ROAD CHALLENGES
Last year NYCFC finished 6th in the Eastern Conference (14W-12L-8T overall), but struggled on the road, going 4W-8L-5T away from home. Under new manager Pascal Jansen, NYCFC’s travel legs will be tested on Saturday for the second time in eight days. The draw against Messi & Co. in Miami was followed by a 2,700-mile flight west to face an LAFC side that finished first in the Western Conference just four months ago.
LAFC’s 11W-2L-4T home record in 2024 was one of the reasons it earned the West’s top seed for the third time in the club’s seven seasons of play.
LAFC WILL WIN IF
It doesn’t allow its well-traveled guests to score the first goal. In all competitions last season, LAFC was 30W-3L-1T when scoring first and 1W-8L-5T when falling behind 1-0.
If the game is knotted late, forward Denis Bouanga has a knack for pushing his team across the finish line, scoring a league-best nine match-winning goals last season.
NYCFC CAN WIN IF
It limits Bouanga’s touches and his combinations with teammates. When the French winger is given time and space with the ball, danger looms for his opponents. Bouanga led MLS in shots on goal in 2024 on the way to his second straight 20-goal season.
The 2025 LAFC Secondary Kit
LAFC’s 2025 Secondary Kit is regal, refined, and designed to be worn by players and supporters who expect success.
