Two playoff contenders in 2022 look to shake themselves out of rough starts this season when the LA Galaxy host Austin FC on Saturday night.

The Galaxy (0-4-3, 3 points) are mired in their longest winless start to a season since they opened the 2003 schedule by going 0-4-4.

But there have been signs of a possible breakout approaching. The Galaxy were unfortunate in home matches against their two toughest opponents so far, a 2-1 loss to Seattle on April 1 and a 3-2 defeat to LAFC on Sunday.

Additionally, Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez was in the starting lineup for the first time this season in the loss to LAFC. Chicharito led the Galaxy with 18 goals last season. And without him, the Galaxy scored only three goals in their first six games.

Chicharito helped set up Mark Delgado’s late goal against LAFC. Tyler Boyd also scored his first career MLS goal in his fifth start for the Galaxy.

“I think we’re feeling pretty good,” Boyd said this week. “We showed a lot of character, a lot of fight. You see that LAFC has got a lot of points, and I think we dominated them for most of the game, and we should’ve won the game. So it is encouraging.”

Austin FC (2-3-2, 8 points) has been only slightly better after finishing second in the Western Conference in 2022 and is mired in their own four-match winless run (0-2-2).

Their struggles have also come primarily in attack, with only one goal in that winless run. Sebastian Driussi has scored only once after finishing second in the MLS Golden Boot race with 22 last season.

In Saturday’s 0-0 home draw with Vancouver, Austin led 17-13 in shots and 7-4 in efforts on target.

“It’s proving elusive, and it can be frustrating. But this is what the game is, so we’ve got to continue to get better,” said Austin manager Josh Wolff after the game. “But I thought we did well. I thought we created enough chances to grab the three points. And unfortunately, it’s a 0-0 draw.”

–Field Level Media