Raphael Wicky urged his Sporting Kansas City players to be braver on the pitch after their season hit a new low against the Portland Timbers last time out. 

The bottom side in the Western Conference remain adrift of the rest after four goals in the first 26 minutes at Providence Park helped Portland on their way to a 6-0 win. 

Sporting KC's minus-24 goal difference (eight scored, 32 conceded) is the worst in MLS history after 11 games, with Orlando City SC's minus-16 from this year coming in second.

Wicky's side, along with Orlando, are the first two teams in MLS history to concede 32 times in their first 11 matches of a campaign, leaving both with work to do at this stage. 

The Sporting KC boss did not hide from the reality of the result, while he also pointed inward at his own team's mindset, suggesting they played with fear rather than intent.

"To be fair, I have not seen the stats and the stats don't help me now, obviously," Wicky said.

"They're a good team, they're a strong team, they're very athletic, they have good players. We knew that before. And everything went their way.

"I felt like we went on the field with the mindset of not making a mistake or of not losing. We have to try to go and play to win, not to not make a mistake.

"It's okay to be sometimes in a low block, but you don't have to be so low. That energy of basically not finding the moments to go with more courage is something which I think we need to start trying to change."

Sporting KC will be hoping to spark their season into life, but their next opponents are an LA Galaxy side unbeaten in their last three MLS matches. 

The Galaxy came from behind to beat Atlanta United 2-1 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium last time out, with Gabriel Pec's late brace doing the damage for Greg Vanney's men. 

It was a result that saw Los Angeles pick up their first away league win since April 11 at Austin FC, and Vanney was asked about what changed for his team in that match.

"We knew at some points in the game, and with 30 minutes left, we wanted to get Marco [Reus] out," Vanney said. "Get a little more attacking-minded and fresh legs.

"The group had a strong mentality and kept with it, they kept doing the work. They kept defending and finding opportunities in transition.

"There are some good things to take away but the mentality over this last stretch of games has been outstanding. I'm proud of the guys for sticking with it."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Sporting KC – Dejan Joveljic

In what has been a disappointing start to the campaign, Joveljic has been the standout for Sporting KC with five goals in 11 league appearances.

The Serbian does, however, have a good record against the Galaxy in MLS play. He has netted two goals in his three appearances and has never lost against them (W2 D1).

LA Galaxy – Gabriel Pec

Pec scored both goals for the LA Galaxy in the victory at Atlanta United on Saturday, after scoring just once in his first 10 appearances of the season.

It was his fourth multi-goal match in MLS and his third on the road, and you would fancy him to have his say once again here.

MATCH PREDICTION: LA GALAXY WIN

Sporting KC recorded a 2-1 road win over the Galaxy in March and are looking for their first season sweep of the Galaxy since 2021. Kansas City are looking for their third sweep of the Galaxy (2017, 2021; minimum two games), which would equal their most against a single team.

However, they suffered their fourth regular-season defeat by a margin of six or more goals last Saturday, losing, 6-0 at Portland. Only D.C. United (five times) have suffered more defeats by six or more goals than Sporting.

The Galaxy, meanwhile, registered just their second win in their last 24 regular-season away matches, dating back to the end of the 2024 season.

They have totalled eight points in their last five away matches (W2 D2 L1) after taking seven from their previous 19 on the road (W0 D7 L12).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Sporting KC – 26.9%

Draw – 23.8%

LA Galaxy – 49.2%