Friday, July 25 | 7:30 p.m. PT | Presented by ZippyPaws
🏟 | BMO Stadium - Los Angeles, CA - Gates open at 6 p.m.
📻 | 710 AM ESPN, ESPN LA App, and KFWB 980 AM La Mera Mera
🗓 | Calendar sync
🐶 | Join LAFC, presenting match sponsor ZippyPaws and Pups Without Borders before the match from 4:30 to 7 p.m. at LAFC Lane on the north side of BMO Stadium to meet a few pups and learn about many more in need of a loving home.
🛍 | LAFC HQ open 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. via exterior entrance and 6-10 p.m. via interior entrance.
🕹 | Level Up Arcade open pre-game from 5:30-7:30 p.m. and for 90 minutes after the final whistle.
Another opportunity to collect three points at home and push higher into the top tier of the Western Conference presents itself to LAFC with a Friday night matchup against their conference rivals the Portland Timbers. The Black & Gold has capitalized on two of three such opportunities at BMO Stadium over the last two weeks, shutting out Colorado and Dallas before drawing with the Galaxy last weekend.
With a record of 10W-5L-6D (36 points), LAFC sits in fifth place in the West, just two points ahead of Portland but with two fewer games played. LAFC enters Friday night’s match riding a run of 14 league games with just one defeat (7W-1L-6D), outscoring opponents 31 to 17 in that span.
The Timbers (9W-7L-7D, 34 points) sit in sixth place in the West, but have collected only 11 points away from home, where their record is 3W-5L-2D.
FORM CHECK
In mid-June the Timbers were among the league’s top scoring clubs with 27 goals through 17 games. Since then, Portland has scored 12 goals in its last 13 MLS games, including one goal or fewer in 10 of those 13 games. The main reason for the dropoff has been the loss of its top goal producer, Antony, due to a hamstring injury he suffered in mid-June. Antony still leads manager Phil Neville’s side in goals (6) and assists (7).
The Timbers experienced a bright moment last Saturday when midfielder Omir Fernández scored his first goal for the club in the 92nd minute to seal a 1-1 draw at home against Minnesota in front of a packed Providence Park that was celebrating the club’s 50th anniversary.
LAFC is coming off its hard-fought 3-3 derby draw with the Galaxy that saw the visitors equalize on the last kick of stoppage time. Playing without injured center back and captain Aaron Long, LAFC put on a clinical display of transition attacking, building a 3-1 second-half lead before a red card on center back Eddie Segura, sandwiched by two Galaxy goals, ended things at 3-3.
“The end of games are always hectic, one can always slip in,” head coach Steve Cherundolo said afterward. “It should never really have gotten to that point though, to be fair. I think closing out games, you just have to be a little smarter … But I don't want the end of this game and maybe the emotions to spoil what's been a fantastic couple of weeks for us. We've been on a great run.”
NEXT MAN
For that run to continue, a fill-in at center back needs to step up against Portland. With Long out for the year and Segura suspended for one game, the Black & Gold has one available central defender on its roster who has seen significant minutes this season: Nkosi Tafari. The offseason acquisition from Dallas has been stellar in Long’s place the last two outings.
Now Tafari – and perhaps 2024 MLS draft pick Kenny Nielsen – must sustain the solidity of a defense that has conceded the third-fewest goals in the Western Conference (27).
DENIS THE ALL STAR
On the other side of the pitch, LAFC ranks fourth in the West in goals scored (39), which bolsters the team's goal differential of plus-12 (4th).
Twenty of those 39 goals have been created in some form by Denis Bouanga, whose 13 tallies lead the team and whose seven assists tie him with midfielder Mark Delgado for the team lead. Bouanga spent this week in Austin as the only representative of LAFC or Portland on the 2025 MLS All-Star roster. Should he score seven goals in LAFC’s final 13 regular-season games, Bouanga will become the first player in Major League Soccer’s 30-year history to score at least 20 goals in three straight seasons.
TIMBERS CAN WIN IF
Forward Felipe Mora rediscovers the form that had him slicing up the league just a few weeks ago. Mora (five goals) hasn’t scored in MLS play since May 3, and fellow striker Kevin Kelsy (five goals) has only scored once in that span. If the missing parts in LAFC’s defensive shape offer opportunities, the Chilean and Venezuelan must pounce to give their side a chance.
LAFC CAN WIN IF
Its new-look back line establishes an identity and some confidence over the match’s opening half. In his three-and-half seasons in charge of LAFC, Cherundolo has proven masterful at preparing a defensive game plan. Friday, he and his staff will challenge their players to band together in Segura’s absence, to defend as a collective, and to listen to the in-game advice of veteran goalkeeper and captain Hugo Lloris as they push for another home result.
