| PREGAME SUMMARY: |
|---|
| 2019 MLS Preseason presented by Advocare |
| LAFC vs Toronto FC |
| UC Irvine - Irvine, Calif. |
| Sunday, Jan. 27 — 3:30 pm ET |
| No stream or TV available |
For the second year in a row, LAFC and Toronto FC will play each other in Southern California in Preseason presented by Advocare. Last year, the teams finished 2-2. This year, the stakes will be similar, with TFC gearing up for Concacaf Champions League, while LAFC have a year under their belts on the field and will look to build on that in year two.
LAFC
Perhaps unsurprisingly, LAFC are not quite as busy to open training camp in 2019. They are bringing back 18 players under contract for their second season and the goal this year in training camp is to build on a solid debut campaign.
"The first training match is just an opportunity to see if some of the early work is sinking in," head coach Bob Bradley said in a video on LAFC's website. "Guys really look forward to playing an outside team. And now we want to see that we are able to take things we are working on in training and make sure that everybody understands how to push those ideas against different opponents."
Toronto FC
TFC have had a longer offseason than the last two years, but they will be back in action early as they kick off their Concacaf Champions League campaign on Feb. 19 against Panamanian outfit Club Atletico Independiente.
The Canadian club, based at UC Irvine for preseason, faced USL League Two side Ventura County Fusion in a scrimmage on Wednesday, with head coach Greg Vanney pleased with the progress being made.
"The first group did a nice job of controlling the ball and possession on a day like today," he told TFC's website. We created opportunities with the ball, again, just continuing to establish our relationships on the field. I felt like sometimes we were getting a little in each other's way, which, it's the first time we played a game, in our fourth game of training, soccer-wise. But there were some good things that came out of it."
