Chicago Fire (10-6-11) at Galaxy (10-6-11)
An important game for two teams with identical records as the regular season winds down and playoff implications on the line.
Lovely warm fall night here at Home Depot Center; let's hope the crowd fills in.
Not surprisingly, Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena has rung the changes in the wake of the disappointing 2-0 loss to Columbus last weekend.
Sean Franklin, who played in midfield last week, returns to his right back role of earlier in the season, with A.J. DeLaGarza switching to left back and Todd Dunivant dropping to the bench.
In midfield, Chris Klein replaces the injured Stefani Miglioranzi. Klein plays wide right with Eddie Lewis coming in wide left and Landon Donovan moving into a striker role in place of Brian Jordan, who will also start the night on the bench. So it will be Chris Birchall in the defensive midfield role in the middle with David Beckham. (Think Arena regrets snapping Klein's MLS record consecutive game streak last week?)
Alan Gordon, Mike Magee and Jovan Kirovski are among Arena's options on the bench.
Here's the complete Galaxy starting XI: Ricketts, Franklin, Berhalter, Gonzalez, DeLaGarza, Klein, Beckham, Birchall, Lewis, Buddle, Donovan.
Remember there's no Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Chris Rolfe or John Thorrington for the Fire because of injuries; Brian McBride and Patrick Nyarko start up top for Chicago.
The game is on ESPN2.
Updated: The game will start at 8:18 p.m. because of the televised football game on ESPN2.
About 100 Percent Soccer
Sportswriter Nick Green has written the 100 Percent Soccer column since 2005 for the Daily News, Daily Breeze and other Los Angeles area newspapers. The blog of the same name began in 2007. A native of England, he began writing about soccer in the mid-1980s and in 2000 permanently exchanged a seat in the stands for one in the press box. He lives six miles from Carson's Home Depot Center, home of the Los Angeles Galaxy, Chivas USA and the training headquarters for U.S. Soccer and is married to a long-suffering soccer widow. Join Nick on FaceBook and follow him on Twitter.
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