Los Angeles FC coach Marc Dos Santos has lamented the busy schedule that has left his team with "no time to breathe", but he is confident they can stop their malaise against St. Louis City.

LAFC are third in the Western Conference with 21 points from 12 matches, though they could slip down the standings if teams around them win their games in hand.

They hit a new low last week, losing 4-1 to the Houston Dynamo just four days on from a 4-0 CONCACAF Champions Cup semi-final defeat to Toluca, which dumped them out of the competition 5-2 on aggregate. 

Excluding the first leg of that tie, LAFC's only other victory in all competitions since April 8 was against Minnesota United, but Dos Santos is confident their form will turn. 

"It shows right now that we're paying the price, a little bit, for everything since the beginning of the season," Dos Santos said.

"But I know we'll get out of it. I know the group.  I know the mentality.  I know what they want, so I have full confidence that we're going to bounce back."

Reflecting further on LAFC's manic run, which saw them play eight games in April and three more at the start of May, he added: "The biggest problem is we don't have time to breathe.

"As soon as we want to train or work on something, we're playing another game, then playing another game. That's the hardest part for us right now. "

St. Louis are second-bottom of the West with just two wins in 11 games, though one of those victories came last time out – 1-0 away at the Colorado Rapids.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

St. Louis City – Roman Burki

St. Louis' 1-0 win over Colorado was their first clean sheet of the season, and they have not kept consecutive clean sheets since starting 2025 with four straight shutouts. 

They have held opponents goalless just three times in 41 league matches after doing so in four straight to start last year, and if they are to keep Son Heung-min and company out, Burki could be busy.

Los Angeles FC – Son Heung-min

Son recorded his MLS-leading eighth assist of the season last time out, teeing up Nathan Ordaz.

Ordaz is the fifth different player to score a goal on which Son has recorded an assist this season.

MATCH PREDICTION – LOS ANGELES FC WIN

After their 1-0 win over the Rapids, St. Louis are chasing consecutive regular-season victories for only the second time since last April, having beaten CF Montreal and the San Jose Earthquakes last September.

And they come up against an LAFC team with just one win in their last six regular-season matches (D2 L3), coming off the back of that demoralising loss to Houston. 

LAFC has shut out St. Louis City in six of the seven all-time meetings between the teams, while always going undefeated in the fixture (W5 D2). 

The 85.7% shutout rate is the highest by one MLS team against another in the regular season (minimum four games played), and the Opta supercomputer makes them slight favourites for this one.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

St. Louis City – 26.6%

Los Angeles FC – 49.7%

Draw – 23.7%