While the rivalry is still in its relative infancy, with LAFC entering the league in 2018, it has quickly established itself as one of the league's most hotly contested derbies, with plenty of electric atmospheres, iconic moments and dramatic finishes in its early history.
As we prepare for another edition, here's a look at some of the numbers that give context to where things stand to this point in El Trafico.
Saturday's match will be the 14th time these sides have faced off since LAFC joined MLS, giving a decent sample size of matches to evaluate the dynamics of the head-to-head battles.
While LAFC have enjoyed remarkable on-field success since their 2018 MLS launch, it's the Galaxy who have the all-time head-to-head edge with a record of 5W-3L-5D across the previous 13 games. The most famous of those triumphs was arguably the first all-time MLS match between the sides on March 31, 2018. Expansion LAFC shot out to a 3-0 lead, only to see the Galaxy storm back for a wild 4-3 victory at Dignity Health Sports Park, powered by two goals from Zlatan Ibrahimovic in his Galaxy debut as a substitute. His second strike is one of the most famous in MLS history, an absolute thunderbolt from the Swedish superstar from over 40 yards out.
LAFC can lay claim to the highest-stakes victory over their crosstown rivals, a 5-3 victory at Banc of California Stadium in the 2019 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs that marked their first-ever derby win. Their two wins since: An explosive 6-2 victory at the MLS is Back Tournament on July 18, 2020 and a 2-0 home triumph on Oct. 25, 2020.
Each team's biggest star is 33 years old: LAFC's Carlos Vela and the Galaxy's Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez. But at the moment, age is just a number, as they're both in vintage form so far this 2022 season.
Vela is in top form through Week 5 with four goals and two assists in 356 minutes, helping LAFC jump out to an early lead in the Supporters' Shield standings. His 1.52 goals+assists per 90 minutes nearly matches his production rate from his historic Landon Donovan MLS MVP season in 2019.
Meanwhile, Chicharito has picked up where he left off following his 17-goal season in 2021 with four so far in five games for the Galaxy, with the duo among six players who are tied for second in the race for the 2022 MLS Golden Boot.
Speaking of Vela, the 2019 MLS MVP has a knack for showing up big in this fixture. He's scored 10 goals against the Galaxy, at least four more than against any other opponent.
In these sides' lone postseason match, it was Vela who struck for a first-half brace with goals in the 16th and 40th minutes gave him nine goals in the first six El Trafico matches, solidifying him as the Galaxy's chief arch-nemesis. He hasn't scored against LA since Oct. 2020, though, so this match presents Vela a perfect opportunity to re-establish his tormentor status.
LA Galaxy |
10 |
Colorado Rapids |
6 |
Vancouver Whitecaps FC |
5 |
San Jose Earthquakes |
5 |
Portland Timbers |
5 |
Like goals? El Trafico fixtures have produced 58 so far all-time. The list of wild shootouts is a lengthy, going all the way back to that aforementioned 4-3 derby debut. Since then, teams have combined for at least five goals on five additional occasions, including the 5-3 LAFC playoff win in 2019 and the 6-2 Black & Gold victory at the MLS is Back Tournament. More recently, they traded blows in a wild 3-3 draw at Banc of California Stadium on August 28, 2021.
Coincidentally, 58 is also the number of shots on goal the Galaxy have registered in their matches against LAFC, which is more than any other opponent in the league since the sides started playing each other.
To illustrate how even this series is historically: Each team has exactly 29 goals through their 13 meetings. amount of goals each team has scored through 13 all-time meetings is actually exactly the same: 29.
The Galaxy hold a slim 26-24 edge in the regular season, with LAFC's playoff win bringing the total dead even. Which adds maybe even more intrigue this season as both clubs look to lay their claim to local superiority.
