It's lonely at the bottom and lonelier still when you only have 12 points out of 15 matches played. Such are the woes for the LA Galaxy as they tend the Western Conference’s basement floor.
Their latest fumble, a 3–2 loss to Real Salt Lake in a US Open Cup match, showed that there is some fire burning in its hearth with Gaston Brugman and Douglas Costa reducing the deficit in the 82nd and 84th minutes of the game. But with Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez going down in a contactless injury in the 23rd minute, it's looking like more trouble ahead.
The Mexican star has had some troubles returning to his best form this season and if this turns into a prolonged absence from the pitch, there will be little chance to assist in the righting of the ship for head coach Greg Vanney's charges.
With Dejan Joveljić replacing Chicharito in the match, LA will be looking to do the same this season - no pressure there for the 23-year-old Serbia international.
Here are LA's upcoming fixtures to look out for compared to their Major League Soccer rivals.
LA Galaxy’s next six fixtures
Things are going to get way more complicated before they get easy for the Angelenos. They kick off the next six fixtures against Western Conference leaders St. Louis City SC and the upstart expansion team will be coming in hot looking to make amends for their 2-0 loss to FC Dallas.
A win here could give the Galaxy a much-needed boost in morale.
St. Louis City SC's next six figures
If St. Louis City SC is not coming into this match looking to destroy LA, then the 2-0 drop to FC Dallas did a lot more than just momentarily dampen dreams in Missouri.
With the exception of the Colorado match – which sadly, should be a "gimmie" – St. Louis is looking at a group of teams who need to define their 2023 campaigns sooner rather than later.
Sporting Kansas City's next six figures
Sporting Kansas City is one of the many teams at this moment who sit within reach of playoff action. Currently 12th on the Western Conference table, Sporting KC has 17 points – three away from seventh place Minnesota United.
They will have a bit of an uphill battle with direct rivals Austin FC and the Houston Dynamo in the coming weeks – how they handle those matches in particular will factor into those playoff hopes.
Colorado Rapids' next six fixtures
It's weird to think that the Rapids are just a point above basement-dwelling LA Galaxy and yet somehow it feels like their season is going worse. With 2W, 8D, 7L it's not looking like there is too much of the season they can salvage.
Their next six are not looking good, matter of fact, it's downright looking rough. They should be able to handle the Galaxy but that might be the match that actually puts them in the place it feels like they should be.
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San Jose Earthquakes' next six fixtures
The Quakes are looking at some tough matches with top brass like the Union, St. Louis and LAFC. Unfortunately, all of their next six will be coming looking for points – especially clubs like Portland and Houston that can make sizeable gains on San Jose's fifth spot on the Western Conference table.
It should be fun to see how gaffer Luchi Gonzalez rotates and places his boys to keep adding to their current tally of 23 points.
LAFC's next six fixtures
LAFC is within two points of punters St. Louis City SC but their June just got way more complicated with the double dose of Dynamos in four days' time due to a rescheduled match from April. And they've had very little downtime with their Concacaf Champions League commitments and all.
It's almost pity inducing but hey, that's life at the top. Barring fatigue and potential injuries, LAFC should coast through these but they have another rescheduled match on the 4th of July with a certain neighbor who's not doing so well per se.
This article was originally published on 90min as LA Galaxy fixtures: Next six games compared to St. Louis, LAFC & Sporting KC.