D.C. United vs. Los Angeles Football Club staff and reader predictions

OK, so last week was cool! D.C. United won a game! They scored goals! Truly, it was delightful.

But that was against the San Jose Earthquakes and that was an entire week ago. Now the Black-and-Red continue their brief tour of the west coast with a match-up against the sillily named Los Angeles Football Club, and honestly, we’re not sure what’s going to happen.

Donald Wine II

Real talk, it’s clear that this Black-and-Red team is gonna score goals. Only real question is whether they give them up as well. On the whole, I think the week on the west coast means that we’re better equipped to take on the new kids on the block. No real reason for this prediction, but it’s going to be a blowout...for United. Even in spite of two Carlos Vela goals, it’s a 5-2 victory, with a Darren Mattocks brace leading the way. Yay!

BlasianSays

LAFC has not lost in their four matches in their new digs, but they’ve just won two of those matches while scoring 1.5 goals per game. Am I still worried about Carlos Vela and Diego Rossi running through the United defense? Yes. DCU’s win over San Jose was nice, but it should be remembered with the condition that it was San Jose. A United goal by Darren Mattocks will be sandwiched by one goal each from Vela and Rossi, and we’re looking at a 2-1 loss for D.C.

Adam Taylor

Rooney Rooney Rooney Roo! Rooney Rooney Rooney Wa! Rooney Rooney hey, Rooney Rooney rah. Rooney Rooney Rooney Rooney Rooney, Rooney Rooney, Rooney-Rooney Rooney. Rooney. Stibi sets up Arriola and Asad keys Acosta. Carlos Vela does Carlos Vela things. RooRoo 2-2 draw. Rooney. Wazza!

Leanne Elston

DCU gets one win and suddenly I’m not able to simply go back to predicting losses all the time. But I’m not quite confident enough to predict three points, because I don’t think this one will go as smoothly as the game against the Quakes. That was the Quakes. This will be tougher, and I think the good guys battle it out for a 2-2 draw with goals from Yamil Asad and Patrick Mullins off the bench (it could happen!).

Jason Anderson (who added his after the fact because he forgot to reply)

LAFC played midweek, and will come into this game without Marco Ureña, Omar Gaber, or Walker Zimmerman. That’s the good news. The bad news is that new striker Adama Diomande is fit to play some part, and their biggest players (Carlos Vela and Laurent Ciman) aren’t heading off for World Cup duty until Sunday.

Still, LAFC suffers from some of the same issues that San Jose does in the midfield. They are certainly a far better team, but United should still be able to find space between the lines to attack. I see this one becoming a shootout, to be honest. United takes an early lead because of course...let’s go with Frederic Brillant on a corner kick for that one. Vela replies with a great strike, and Diego Rossi makes it 2-1 before halftime. United gets back level through Darren Mattocks on the hour mark, but as the chances pile up, the team with more raw talent in the final third wins it, as Vela gets a brace from a Lee Nguyen assist. 3-2 to the home side.

What are you predicting for tomorrow’s game? Let us know in the comments, but lo, behold this week’s silly poll first!