Sebastian Giovinco and Jozy Altidore will be held back from Toronto FC's cross-continental trip to face the LA Galaxy on Saturday night (10:30 pm ET | TSN in Canada, MLS LIVE in the US) for what coach Greg Vanney termed "precautionary" reasons.
Giovinco departed at halftime of Toronto's 4-0 home win against the San Jose Earthquakes last Saturday with a quad injury. Then Altidore left after 65 minutes with what coach Greg Vanney said was general lower body tightness.
With Toronto holding a nine-point lead in the race for the Supporters' Shield and facing a stretch of three matches in three stadiums over eight days, Vanney said he'd rather not risk the health of his two top scorers.
"It's more precautionary than anything else," he said. "Just a risk/reward evaluation on our end."
Altidore has had one of his healthiest MLS seasons, already setting a career high for starts with 22. He'll also hit a career high with 26 league appearances provided he plays twice more for the Reds this season.
Giovinco missed four out of five league games during May due to leg and heel injuries.
