San Jose Earthquakes (8-7-4
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, sixth in the Western Conference) vs. LA Galaxy (11-7-1, second in the Western Conference)Carson, California; Friday, 11 p.m. EDTBOTTOM LINE: Los Angeles plays San Jose after Zlatan Ibrahimovic registered two goals against Toronto FC.The Galaxy are 6-3-1 against Western Conference opponents. Los Angeles ranks fourth in the Western Conference allowing 22 goals.The Earthquakes are 5-4-3 against Western Conference opponents. San Jose is sixth in the league with 30 goals led by Chris Wondolowski with eight.The teams play Friday for the second time this season. San Jose won the last meeting 3-0.TOP PERFORMERS: Ibrahimovic leads Los Angeles with three assists. Favio Alvarez has two goals over the past 10 games for the Galaxy.Magnus Eriksson has three goals and six assists for San Jose. Wondolowski has eight goals over the last 10 games for the Earthquakes.LAST 10 GAMES: Los Angeles: 4-6-0, averaging 1.1 goals, 0.8 assists, 3.7 shots on goal and 5.7 corner kicks per game while allowing 1.4 goals per game.San Jose: 6-2-2, averaging 1.8 goals, 1.7 assists, 5.2 shots on goal and 6.6 corner kicks per game while allowing 1.1 goals per game.NOT EXPECTED TO PLAY: Los Angeles: Romain Alessandrini (injured)
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, Jonathan Dos Santos, Chris Pontius (injured), Sebastian Lletget (injured), Uriel Antuna.San Jose: Anibal Godoy (injured), Nick Lima. Despite a relatively good start to the game, Simone Inzaghi’s Lazio still fell short against Napoli and eventually lost 2-1 to the hosts, relinquishing fourth place to Milan and fierce rivals Roma. The聽biancocelesti聽started the game nicely pressuring Ancelotti’s men high, and tested Napoli keeper Alex Meret early. The young shot-stopper proved to be up to the challenge and kept Lazio at bay until Jose Callejon found the back of the net.Minutes later, Arek Milik would double the聽partenopei’s聽lead, rendering Ciro Immobile’s second half goal a mere consolation strike. Francesco Acerbi would also get sent off with twenty to play
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, compounding Lazio’s issues further. While Inzaghi won’t be too displeased with the performance as a whole, the loss highlighted Lazio’s woes once more. Incapable of generating much offence, a large part of the offensive burden falls on the welcoming shoulders of Ciro Immobile.The Italian international has done well when called upon, scoring 11 goals in league play thus far, yet can’t be tasked with carrying Lazio week in, week out. Yesterday, it was Luis Alberto who got the start behind the talisman, but the Spaniard failed to impress. Out of his 13 crosses on the night, only one found its intended target. His dribbles completed percentage wasn’t much better, beating his man a mere three out of 13 times. Moreover
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, Luis Alberto often found himself drifting wide to create space for himself, a position in which he doesn’t exactly thrive from.Last season, the former Liverpool man was one of Lazio’s best players and was a constant threat behind Immobile as the side’s trequartista. If Lazio want to push on for the fourth and final Champions League spot, and pip Milan and Roma to it, Inzaghi will have to get more out of Luis Alberto and get him on the right track again. With the Spaniard misfiring, the聽biancocelesti’s聽attack has been toothless and have often turned to Joaquin Correa.聽Once again, the Argentine impressed off the bench and registered an assist on Immobile’s neat finish. Considering Luis Alberto’s recent struggles, it may be time to give Correa a run of games to make the #10 role his own. In the long run, Lazio are going to need to add goal support to the team as other than Immobile no player has more than three goals. For a team vying for Europe’s elite competition, this is simply not good enough.With the January transfer window open for a little over a week
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, it may be wise for Claudio Lotito to dip into the war chest and sign another striker. Up until now, Felipe Caicedo hasn’t done enough when called upon and has regularly failed to lead the line. However, Inzaghi’s side are only currently linked heavily with a move for Davide Zappacosta. Barring any major changes, they will remain as they are until the end of the season.Defensively, Lazio faced the same issues and in the end, lapses in concentration cost the side against Napoli. Far too often this season, Inzaghi’s men switch off and concede avoidable goals. Against a team like Napoli, you cannot afford such drops in concentration as they will make you pay. Despite their positive start to the game, Lazio switched off for three minutes and conceded two quick-fire goals. With Acerbi suspended next game against Juventus, the聽biancocelesti聽must avoid these individual errors at all costs or it will result in more dropped points.With games coming up against Juventus and Inter
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, it won’t get much easier for Lazio. Factor in a two-legged affair against Sevilla in the Europa League, and you quickly realize Inzaghi won’t have much time to get it right for Lazio. If the Napoli game was anything to go by, however, Lazio are still far off their best ahead of a crucial stretch.
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