National Writer: Charles Boehm<\/span>\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Can the Seattle Sounders<\/a> stop scoring own goals? Will the LA Galaxy<\/a> score some goals of their own? Is Leo Messi<\/a> ready to don his boots again?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Questions abound across MLS as Matchday 3 looms. Here\u2019s a look at three of the weekend\u2019s most compelling matchups.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Two perennial Western Conference contenders lock horns yet again, this time at Lumen Field, both fighting on two fronts and on short rest thanks to their Concacaf Champions Cup<\/a> campaigns. And while both have hated rivals closer to home in the form of the LA Galaxy and Portland Timbers<\/a>, there\u2019s always been real heat when the Sounders and Angelinos face off.<\/p>\n LAFC\u2019s first-ever MLS match was a visit to Seattle \u2013 an upset win delivered by Diego Rossi<\/a>\u2019s goal \u2013 and their first-ever home game was the reverse fixture a few weeks later. The meetings that truly define their history, however, have come in cup competitions. They\u2019ve had a litany of high-stakes clashes in the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs, with the winner advancing to the championship match on three occasions, and last year\u2019s tense US Open Cup<\/a> semifinal in Tukwila, Washington, where an LAFC win proved prelude to another trophy hoist for Steve Cherundolo\u2019s side.<\/p>\n The Black & Gold exorcised a nagging demon in midweek by sweeping aside the Columbus Crew<\/a>, their bogey team since Wilfried Nancy\u2019s arrival in Ohio, 3-0<\/a> in the first leg of their CCC Round-of-16 series via a Denis Bouanga<\/a> brace. That makes the fleet-footed Gabon international winger one to watch on Saturday afternoon, particularly in transition, while the Rave Green remain reliant on the hard running of striker Jordan Morris<\/a> as new acquisition Jes\u00fas Ferreira<\/a> finds his feet.<\/p>\n Is the FC Dallas<\/a> product ready for his first MLS start with Seattle? Their inability to score against Cruz Azul at home on Wednesday suggests his creativity is needed.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u201cAs for Leo, I follow what the doctors tell me. The doctors told me that he doesn’t have any injuries or scars. He is fatigued after playing three games in six days. The changes in weather, there have been a lot of situations. And since we want to take care of him and we don’t want to make him feel fatigued, we decided to give him rest, knowing the risks we’re facing.\u201d<\/p>\n Thus spoke<\/a> Inter Miami<\/a> boss Javier Mascherano this week about Messi\u2019s murky status, with the GOAT sitting out the Herons\u2019 last two matches due to, well, apparently it\u2019s not an injury, but something that could become an injury? So Miami fans and Messi stans are getting familiar with terms like fatigue, overload, load management and the nuance that swirls around them in situations like this.<\/p>\n Whether it\u2019s the technical staff being secretive, coy \u2013 maybe they worry his affected areas will be targeted by opponents when he does return to the pitch? \u2013 Leo himself simply preferring privacy whenever possible or some combination of the above, it\u2019s been a mostly theoretical debate this week. Because neither of the Herons\u2019 opponents, Houston Dynamo<\/a> and Jamaican side Cavalier FC, have been quite threatening enough to make undefeated IMCF truly look exposed with the GOAT unavailable.<\/p>\n Charlotte FC<\/a> aim to change that on Sunday. The Crown got a huge lift from new Designated Player Wilfried Zaha<\/a> in their home-opening win over Atlanta United,<\/a> even with the English-Ivorian winger clearly short of full flow thanks to his wife giving birth last week in London and the trans-Atlantic travel that entailed for dad.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was nowhere near his best,\u201d MLS Season Pass analyst Bradley Wright-Phillips said on this week\u2019s edition of This is MLS<\/a>. \u201cIf he can have that kind of performance on a day where I\u2019d say he was at 50 percent, we\u2019ve got a lot more to come from Wilfried Zaha. We didn\u2019t see him dicing up players, running at players too much, just causing havoc down the wings.\u201d<\/p>\n CLTFC hopes Zaha will take another step forward with an impactful display in South Florida; that\u2019d be a tall task for Ian Fray<\/a> or whoever else plays right back for IMCF. And the Carolinians\u2019 rugged backline can make life tougher for Miami\u2019s attack than anyone they\u2019ve faced thus far in 2025.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n March is generally much too early for desperation in MLS, though that conventional wisdom might get tested when the Galaxy host St. Louis CITY SC<\/a> for a Sunday Night Soccer presented by Continental Tire duel among the palm trees at Dignity Health Sports Park. Neither of these Western Conference sides have won yet, and they\u2019ve been two of the league\u2019s weakest front lines in the opening weeks.<\/p>\n Given that, the urgency to produce a higher volume of quality scoring chances and stack up some points can grow steadily even in early spring. But hey, maybe new STL head coach Olof Mellberg, a newcomer to these shores, will wave all that away and emphasize a stingy defensive foundation above all for the foreseeable future: they\u2019ve posted clean sheets in their first two matches and no one in CITY magenta seems overly concerned about the goal drought.<\/p>\n \u201cThe game is more fun when you have the ball. But I would say, if you compare our performance to a game like this last season, we would have never gotten away with a point last season,\u201d goalkeeper Roman B\u00fcrki<\/a> said after last weekend\u2019s 0-0 draw<\/a> at San Diego FC<\/a>, where St. Louis mustered a paltry 34% of possession and 0.1 expected goals. \u201cWe played really good defensively, and that\u2019s not just the defense, the whole team, also the strikers. I think there was just a good fighting performance from our side.\u201d<\/p>\n The alarm bells are ringing a bit louder<\/a> for the defending MLS Cup champs, with three losses and just one goal in the opening weeks for a previously vibrant attack becalmed by injuries and roster turnover.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to be more dynamic on the attacking half of the field. The game needs to move faster for us. It’s too slow right now,\u201d said coach Greg Vanney this week. \u201cWe’re integrating players into key areas of the field that used to be, what I would say a well-oiled machine, and now they’re just in the rebuilding phase.\u201d<\/p>\n For a deeper look into this game, read Armchair Analyst Matt Doyle\u2019s thorough preview<\/a>, graced by an artful assist from MLS Season Pass\u2019 Andrew Wiebe.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n <\/main><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
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