Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Toronto FC: DeRo Against The Ruthless Ones

After a successful two-game road trip which saw them earn maximum points, Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy continue their impressive 2010 Major League Soccer campaign back at the friendly confines of the Home Depot Center on Saturday night against Toronto FC.

"We're ruthless," said Galaxy captain Landon Donovan on Saturday after their 4-0 victory over the Seattle Sounders. "Our attitude starts with Bruce. It would have been easy to say, 'We got three points on Wednesday, we'll see what happens here today.' That's not good enough."

The Galaxy came of a 1-0 win last Wednesday against the Colorado Rapids before shellacking the Sounders Qwest Field over the weekend. And in that contest, they proved that it's not just Edson Buddle who can inflict damage as four different players earned their first goals of the season.

"We knew when everyone was praising Edson and worried about no one else scoring goals we knew we'd come around, and we showed it today," Donovan said.

They will look to diversify the portfolio a bit more against Preki's Toronto FC, who are led by Canadian international Dwayne De Rosario. A dangerous forward on the attack, De Rosario has six goals to his credit to lead the team and will be a focal point of the defense. Chad Barrett has also found his scoring touch, having earned a brace last week in TFC's 4-1 win over the Chicago Fire.

Stopping DeRo, as he is known, will be one of LA's major keys to victory against Toronto. TFC goalkeeper Stefan Frei has a 1.86 goals against average and will be facing a ferocious Galaxy offense that comprises of Edson Buddle, Landon Donovan, and those not named Edson Buddle or Landon Donovan.

However, Donovan is the facilitator in Arena's 4-4-2 and will be used extensively to test the Toronto defensive line, led by Frei and defender Nana Attakora.

And with Galaxy captain and Buddle called up to the national team after the match with Toronto FC, this game will be significant.

“We just see it game by game," defender Omar Gonzalez said on the situation. "We know we’re going to be losing Landon and Edson to camp and maybe the World Cup for Edson, but we’re definitely taking it game by game and just hoping we keep winning. We’ll just worry about that stuff later."

The Galaxy are currently nine points clear of second place Real Salt Lake in the MLS Western Conference and seven points clear of the New York Red Bulls in the overall standings. Toronto FC is third in the MLS Eastern Conference standings and lingering in the middle of the overall table.

Prediction:

Toronto FC is doing well so far in the Nutrilite Canadian Championship, having a 2-1 victory to their credit over the Montreal Impact. On Wednesday, they will look to consolidate their hold on the table.

However, this isn't the Impact they will be facing. This is a completely different animal. With the team now emerged from Buddle's scoring shadow, the LA Galaxy will be ready for this match, so long as they stop De Rosario and crank the heat up early.

Los Angeles Galaxy 3, Toronto FC 1

Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. PT.

INS AND OUTS:

Mini-Clasico on the way
Want to watch some live football from the HDC before the big match? The LA Galaxy and Chivas USA youth academies tangle with each other today at Field 7 of the Home Depot Center. Catch the U-16 match at 1:00 p.m. and the U-18 match at 3:15.

It may not be the Superclasico you're used to on the main pitch...but it's close enough! After all, when it's Galaxy vs. Chivas USA, there's a little bit more than just mere pride on the line.