Dejan Joveljic is desperate for victory against LA Galaxy as Sporting Kansas City prepare to host the striker’s former side in MLS.
Serbia forward Joveljic scored the winner last year as the Galaxy clinched the MLS Cup with a 2-1 victory over the New York Red Bulls.
The pair parted ways in the aftermath of the Galaxy’s sixth league title, however, with Joveljic moving to join Kansas City.
“Finally, everything paid off: It was an amazing journey, and we finally won it,” Joveljic said of last season’s success, speaking to the league’s official website.
“To be honest, we had a great team last season, we did some amazing things; we didn’t lose a game at home, which is an amazing achievement.
“After that, I felt that I need something more.”
Both sides have struggled for form since the Galaxy’s 2024 glory, with the pair sitting as the bottom two teams in the Western Conference.
Kansas City are second-bottom after their 2-1 defeat at FC Cincinnati, while Greg Vanney’s side – who have just three points to their name – are winless all season after their 4-2 defeat to Portland Timbers last time out.
Joveljic will be in no mood to do his old side a favour at Mercy Park, though says he would keep his celebrations muted if he does manage to score.
“I just want to win,” he said. “Yes, I play against my friends, against my brothers, against the coach who brought me there, and all the guys there. It’s going to be special, but I have nothing more than to win.
“I want to prove myself once more, and it’s going to be interesting – and hopefully it’s going to be a great game.
“If I score, there is no chance I do something crazy. Even if I celebrate, everyone knows how much I love LA and coach Greg [Vanney] and all the guys – so that’s not important.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Sporting Kansas City – Daniel Salloi
Daniel Salloi will be one for the Galaxy to keep an eye on, with his four goals this MLS campaign only bettered by Joveljic (five) among Sporting players.
The Hungary international failed to find the net last time out, but scored twice in the 5-3 win over San Jose Earthquakes in the game beforehand.
LA Galaxy – Christian Ramirez
Christian Ramirez ended a five-match streak without a goal across all competitions by finding the target in the defeat to the Timbers.
The Galaxy forward leads the scoring charts this season in MLS for his side, with four goals in nine games after scoring in three straight games across March.
MATCH PREDICTION – LA GALAXY WIN
The Galaxy may have endured a woeful campaign to date, but the Opta supercomputer swayed towards an away victory across 10,000 pre-match simulations.
Indeed, the visitors won both meetings with Kansas City last season after winning only two of the previous 16 meetings dating back to October 2015 (D7 L7).
The Galaxy’s last three-match winning streak over Kansas City came in 2005-06, though they may fancy their chances of replicating that here.
Sporting’s defeat to Cincinnati marked their 14th loss in the last 17 matches in all competitions dating back to mid-September (W2 D1).
They have also allowed multiple goals in 14 of those 17 matches, including the last three in a row, but the Galaxy’s form means this will not be a routine win by any means.
Vanney’s side are one of five teams in the post-shootout era to go winless in their first 10 MLS matches of a season.
They have only one longer winless run at any time in a season in club history, a 12-match streak in June-September 2008, a feat they will be desperate to avoid this year.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Sporting Kansas City win – 31.5%
Draw – 25.3%
LA Galaxy win – 43.2%
