(Photo credit: William Navarro-Imagn Images)

The Los Angeles Galaxy plummeted from MLS Cup champions to missing the playoffs by a wide margin last year while New York City nearly had a chance to play for a title.

The Galaxy were encouraged by a strong preseason and hope to avoid another massively slow start Sunday night in Carson, Calif., when they host NYCFC, who are coming off an appearance in the Eastern Conference finals.

Los Angeles went 3-1-1 in five exhibition matches against MLS opponents before playing to a 1-1 draw against Sporting San Miguelito in the CONCACAF Champions Cup on Thursday in Llano Marin, Panama. Last season, the Galaxy went winless in their first 16 matches and finished with 30 points, a franchise low for a full MLS season.

Los Angeles played last season without Riqui Puig, who had a torn ACL in his left knee, and he also will miss this season following another surgery on the same joint. Former MLS Defender of the Year Jakob Glesnes is among the notable additions along with Justin Haak and Joao Klauss.

'We're not going to be the exact same team that we would be if Riqui was roaming the midfield,' Los Angeles coach Greg Vanney said. 'We're stronger in a lot of other positions. That's going to help this team because in the second half of (last) year we were competitive with everybody.'

NYCFC finished fifth in the Eastern Conference in 2025 and saw their season end in the conference finals with a 5-1 loss to Inter Miami on Nov. 29. New York City received a 17-goal showing from Alonso Martinez, but he tore his right ACL during the international break on Nov. 13 and will not play this season.

NYCFC also will be missing Andres Perea, who is recovering from a broken leg sustained in the 2025 postseason, but Keaton Parks is back after missing most of the season after undergoing surgery to address blood-flow problems with his right leg.

'We did a pretty decent job (last season), but we want more,' NYCFC coach Pascal Jansen said. 'We want to be successful. That means we have to do better than last season. We reached the conference final, but at the end of the day, we didn't win anything.'

--Field Level Media