Galaxy hope to keep conference lead going into Leagues Cup break

The Galaxy, in first place in the West, hosts Portland on Saturday night and won't play an MLS regular-season game for more than a month

The Galaxy reached the top of the Western Conference standings Wednesday.

However, the calendar still reads July and there are still some twists and turns likely ahead as the final months of the Major League Soccer season play out.

The goal remains to finish at the top.

“We all have one goal in mind and we all want to make sure that every playoff game for us is here at home,” defender Mauricio Cuevas said. “In our atmosphere, which that is important for us.”

The Galaxy (13-5-7, 46 points) faces another test Saturday as the Portland Timbers visit Dignity Health Sports Park. As it showed Wednesday, the Galaxy has always had a response to a loss. The club, which leads LAFC and Real Salt Lake by two points, has yet to lose consecutive games this season.

“The guys are fighting for everything and we keep going,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said. “We have one more this week that’s really important. If we can get the job done on Saturday, we go into the break on top of the West, and that’s the goal for this week.

“The group has been locked in. We had a little discussion this week on how we want to adjust some things as we continue to learn about ourselves and some of the different circumstances or situations or conditions we’re playing in. I’m not going to get into detail, but that’s part of what a season is about, is learning about yourself for when you get to that final stage.

“You have some answers to some things that maybe you weren’t sure about totally before. It’s just understanding our team and maybe some of the things that might be good for our team as we move into the latter stage the season.”

A win against the seventh-place Timbers (10-8-6, 36 points) would leave the Galaxy in first place heading into the Leagues Cup break. They’re scheduled to resume MLS play Aug. 24 with eight games remaining in the regular season.

Joveljic out

Dejan Joveljic, the Galaxy’s leading scorer with 12 goals, will miss his third consecutive game due to hamstring tightness.

“He’ll probably back on the training field as we get a little closer to the start of the Leagues Cup,” Vanney said. “We’ll see if he’s ready for those games. … Not going to rush him, we have to take the right steps. He’s healing. It’s not a significant strain. I think he’s moving in the right direction for sure.”

Leagues Cup

After the game, MLS pauses its season for this year’s edition of the Leagues Cup tournament, involving teams from Liga MX. Teams are guaranteed two games in group play.

The Galaxy is in Group B and will open on the road against the San Jose Earthquakes on July 31 and then return home against Chivas on Aug. 4, although the Galaxy will be considered the road team. The top two teams in each group advance.

PORTLAND at GALAXY

When: 7:45 p.m. Saturday

Where: Dignity Health Sports Park

How to watch: FS1; Apple TV (MLS Season Pass)