Minnesota United-Galaxy Preview (Oct 15, 2017)

For the first time in their brief history, Minnesota United FC will travel to southern California to take on the Los Angeles Galaxy.

It has been a dismal season for both teams in terms of overall records, but the Galaxy and the United are heading in different directions, especially of late.

Sunday's match at the Stubhub Center in Carson, Calif., will be the final home game of the year for the Galaxy, who haven't won since Sept. 2 when they defeated the Colorado Rapids 3-0.

But the team's ineptitude extends much longer. Not only is the team winless in its last six matches, the victory over the Rapids marks the only win for the Galaxy in their last 17 games. Since June, the Galaxy is 1-4-12.

Nestled neatly at the bottom with the worst record in Major League Soccer, Los Angeles (7-17-8) is a long way away from a 2016 playoff appearance that ended in the Western Conference semifinals.

Meanwhile, Minnesota (10-16-6) has been playing well of late, going 4-2-2 in the team's last eight games.

However, the United were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs in their inaugural season in the league. Minnesota is in ninth place in the Western Conference.

Minnesota coach Adrian Heath is not underestimating the Galaxy.

"If you look at the quality of the players, they have (Giovani) dos Santos and (Romain) Alessandrini and Gyasi Zardes," Heath told mnufc.com. "They've got quality with (Emmanuel) Boateng on the wing. They've got quality players.

"Now, obviously, it's not been the type of year that probably they or everyone else expected out of the Galaxy, because over the last 10 years, they've been the standard bearers of the league. But you know, if they turn up and they play well, it's going to be tough for us. But we're looking forward to it."

The last time the two teams met, the Galaxy pulled off a 2-1 win in Minnesota on May 21.

But Heath said his team has grown since that match and Minnesota's recent record seems to support that.

"I think we've got progressively better as the season has gone," he said. "Are we anywhere near where we want to be? No. And we've realized that we've got a lot of work still ahead of us. But we do think that we've got a really good core and a good base to work from."

Despite the dreadful season, Los Angeles supporters have something to look forward to in the return of Galaxy midfielder Baggio Husidic. Sunday could be the first time the 30-year-old has played since he broke his left fibula in May.

Galaxy coach Sigi Schmid told the team's official website that Husidic's minutes would likely be limited because he's not back to full game shape.

"He's just back into training, so he's limited fitness-wise," Schmid said. "The other day, we played a little bit on last Thursday, and his engine was probably empty at 30 minutes. He's someone that can come on and give us some minutes, but I'm not sure how many minutes at this stage."

Only one player from either team will miss the game because of suspension. Minnesota defender Joe Greenspan will sit out after receiving two yellow cards in United's match against Sporting Kansas City last week.

The MLS season wraps up next weekend. The Galaxy take on FC Dallas at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. Minnesota will visit the San Jose Earthquakes.