Who will Chivas protect this year? (Getty Images)

Yesterday we started our look at the expansion draft and who teams will and won't protect for this month's upcoming draft. The Philadelphia Union get ten players to pick from and this year will be as tough as any to predict who will stay and who will be left exposed.

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Well, my laptop just died so I'm depending on the kindness of coworkers here to blog (sporadically).

Here's the scenario: if the Galaxy win they'll face the Houston Dynamo at home 8 o'clock Friday; if Chivas USA wins they'll travel to Houston for a Sunday game.

There's just one change for the Galaxy today: Chris Birchall has fallen ill (nothing serious I'm told), so Chris Klein replaces him in midfield.

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Sunny and 80 degrees here at the under populated Home Depot Center.

Kick off has apparently been pushed back to 2:25 p.m. to accommodate TV if you're wondering.

It's the same starting lineup this afternoon that both teams fielded for the respective MLS season finales.

Here's Arena's team: Donovan Rickettts, Sean Franklin, Gregg Berhalter, Omar Gonzalez, Todd Dunivant, Chris Birchall, David Beckham, Dema Kovalenko, Mike Magee, Edson Buddle, Landon Donovan.

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This is the game Southern California MLS fans have long awaited.

I'd like to say there's a buzz in the air, a sense of anticipation and tension and plenty of concrete expressions of the rivalry that have temporarily divided friends and families.

I'd like to say that, but it wouldn't be true.

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Everybody know someone who cohabitates with someone who supports a different sports team than them. For instance my brother-in-law is a die-hard Giants fan while his son bleeds Jets green; even though they rarely play each other, the trash talking can get definitely get heated (in a good way). Click to continue reading...

Chivas USA striker Maicon Santos attacks (Scott Varley photo).

Game story

Chivas USA handed out its team awards after the game: goalkeeper Zach Thornton was named the team MVP, while Jonathan Bornstein earned Defender of the Year honors.

Bonus quote: Here's defender Ante Jazic on why Chivas USA is having a hard time scoring more than two goals in a game:

"Or three.

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Chivas USA 2 Earthquakes 2

A Justin Braun header in the 66th minute from an Ante Jazic cross has restored parity. It looked suspiciously close to being offside, too.

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Game story.

Playoff tickets are on sale starting at $15. Call 1-877-CHIVAS-1.

Chivas USA - Zach Thornton, Carey Talley, Yamith Cuesta, Claudio Suarez (Mariano Trujillo 46), Ante Jazic, Jesus Padilla (Jesse Marsch 46), Michael Lahoud (Eduardo Lillingston 55), Paulo Nagamura, Sacha Kljestan, Justin Braun, Maykel Galindo,

Substitutes Not Used: Chukwudi Chijindu, Jon Conway, Jorge Flores, Shavar Thomas

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Seattle Sounders 0 Chivas USA 0

Seattle Coach Sigi Schmid threw out the first pitch Friday at the Mariners-Yankees game. (AP Photo)

Ghastly offense (as usual), generally excellent defense (as is customary) gave Chivas USA the road point today.

Marcelo Saragosa excepted, of course, after throwing the most blatant kung fu kick at a soccer game since Eric Cantona.

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Desde el XBOX Pitch at Qwest Field, Seattle, WA. -12:00: Estas son las alineaciones: Los Sounders FC: Kasey KELLER(c)-James RILEY, Jhon Kennedy HURTADO, Tyrone MARSHALL, Leo GONZÁLEZ, Sebastien LE TOUX, Osvaldo ALONSO, Peter VAGENAS, Steve ZAKUANI- Fredy MONTERO, LJUNGBERG.CD Chivas USA: Zach THORNTON-Marcelo SARAGOSA, Jonathan BORNSTEIN, Yamith CUESTA, Ante JAZIC- Jesús PADILLA, Michael LAHOUD, Paulo NAGAMURA(c), [. Click to continue reading...

It's thankfully cooling off here in Carson - the temperature right now is 76 degrees - as Chivas USA and the Galaxy play the season's third and final SuperClasico.

If Chivas USA wins tonight they would win the SuperClasico trophy because the teams would be even with four points apiece after a 0-0 tie and a 1-0 Galaxy home win earlier this season.

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I must admit, I was getting depressed when I would think about the goats. The downhill slide just didn't seem like it was going to end. We got a win last weekend, but was it a fluke? Could the Goats drive on and play like it was 3 months ago and they were on top of the world? Could Chivas USA find the Mojo it lost sometime in June?

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Part two of the expansion draft preview. The Eastern conference was covered yesterday, and can be found here.
CHIVAS USA
Protected Available Exempt Jonathan Bornstein Chukwudi Chijindu
Justin Braun Yamith Cuesta
Bobby Burling Jim Curtin
Maykel Galindo Jorge Flores
Sacha Kljestan Kevin Harmse
Michael Lahoud Ante Jazic
Jesse Marsch
Dan Kennedy
Paulo Nagamura
Eduardo Lillingston
Shavar Thomas
Gerson Mayen
Zach Thornton
Jesus Padilla
Mariano Trujillo Lance Parker
Ante Razov
Maicon Santos
Marcelo Saragosa
Bojan Stepanovic
Claudio Suarez
Carey Talley
Lawson Vaughn
Sasha Victorine
Cesar Zamora
If this list of players seems larger than normal to you, then you're right. Click to continue reading...

Americans Abroad / USMNT
USA Names Roster For Mexico Qualifier - Soccer By Ives
Bradley Names 20-Man Roster To Prepare For Qualifier In Mexico - US Soccer
Bradley Announces Roster For Mexico - Yanks Abroad
Bradley Calls In 20 - Goal (NY Times)
US Sets Roster For World Cup Qualifier Against Mexico - Los Angeles Times
Mexico-USA, 8/12, Is This Your Starting Lineup? Click to continue reading...

A few items to pass along:

*The club announced today it will open the Home Depot Center's upper deck, which it customarily doesn't need to accommodate the smallish crowds that average 15,312 this season, for Saturday's SuperClasico against the Galaxy. Those seats have an excellent view, BTW, if you've never sat up there (think the luxury suite views on the opposite side of the stadium without the expensive prices).

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According to the CONCACAF website, we could be missing five players during the Gold Cup (assuming Ali Gerba signs). Stephen Hart has named his 30-man preliminary squad ahead of the tournament, and included are Dwayne De Rosario, Adrian Serioux, Nana Attakora, Kevin Harmse, and Ali Gerba. Here is the full 30-man squad. Click to continue reading...

Chivas USA defender Ante Jazic has been removed from the club's Disabled List, making the 33-year-old eligible to participate in official MLS games. Jazic, who has travelled with Chivas USA for its away matches this week at Houston and Columbus, had been sidelined since suffering a concussion on March 11, ten days before Chivas USA's first match of the season.

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Americans Abroad / USMNT
Confederations Cup? Who Should The US Start vs. Italy? - Soccer By Ives
ESPN's 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup Schedule - Soccer365
Greetings From Jo'Burg - The MNT Blog
US Reverts To Baby Steps - Daily Breeze
U.S Sees Tournament As World Cup 'Dry Run' - Associated Press
MLS Enough For Qualifying Mettle? Click to continue reading...

This preview and statistical guide comes courtesy of MLSR partner Seattle's Prost Amerka Soccer.�
The preview is an excerpt � -� � Read the full preview at Prost Amerika Soccer.

Sounders return to the site of their worst result of the season. Their sole two goal defeat came at the Home Depot Centre on April 18th where an own goal contributed to a lacklustre Seattle defeat.

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The Galaxy, Chivas USA and Sol are all in action today, but the big news of the morning just landed in my e-mail: Toronto FC Coach John Carver has resigned, the club announced this morning.

Slightly curious timing.

Toronto became the first MLS team to beat Chivas USA in midweek and faces Kansas City Sunday.

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Tweet me: dunord
dN
Over 30,000 tickets have been sold for USA v Honduras World Cup qualifier on Sat Jun 6 at Soldier Field in Chicago. (I will be there, will you?)
You make the call: How many are for USA? How many are for Honduras?
dN
Jeffrey Marcus of the New York Times addresses the real issue with MLS. Click to continue reading...

"As long as no-one scored, it was always going to be close" Arsene Wenger

That pretty much summed up last weekends exciting, yet scoreless Superclásico. Chivas played as a far more dominant side, even when down to ten men and should be most satisfied with their ability to neutralize any kind of threat the Galaxy had to offer.

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I've been rather busy this week with a couple of projects and haven't been able to blog much. That will be true again today, but it's another busy soccer weekend with both the Galaxy and Chivas USA playing on Saturday and Sunday in Carson respectively so here's a preview of what's on tap.

Stomach-churning MLS.

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According to Glenn MacDonald at the Chronicle Herald (click here for the original), Canadian midfielder/defender Ante Jazic and two draft picks were traded to Chivas USA from the LA Galaxy for Chivas USA's 2nd round draft pick (where they picked up defender, AJ De La Garza). Ante Jazic's departure will clear some much needed cap space for the LA Galaxy. Click to continue reading...

The Galaxy enter today's home game (8:00 pm PDT - FSC) in the grip of a club-record 12 game winless streak, taking just six points from the 36 on offer. They sit at the bottom of the Western Conference on 26 points, four points out of the last Western playoff spot. It's been over 100 days since the team's last win and it is the first time since mid-July that both Landon Donovan and David Beckham will be playing together in front of the Home Depot Center crowd.

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Today the Galaxy takes on Real Salt Lake at the Home Depot Center at 7:30 PDT. You can follow the action via the Direct Kick package or on MLSLive.tv.

After last week's much improved performance I should be looking forward to this game. It's at home, it's again a team that can't buy a point on the road, and they happen to be conference rivals.

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The Galaxy looked sharper than they had in weeks last Saturday against the Revolution, which bodes well for the run they will have to make in order to get into the playoffs. However, this Saturday MLS has, in its infinite wisdom, decided to schedule league matches concurrently with a FIFA World Cup qualifier date.

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Or at least they are tied with the 2006 team as the worst ever.

By running their winless streak to 10 games with a 2-2 tie Saturday against the New England Revolution, the Galaxy tied the mark for the longest winless stretch in club history, first set in 2006 when the Galaxy went 0-8-2 from May 6 until June 24.

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Photo by ISIphotos.com

If you are a fantasy sports junkie, this might be a tough time a year for you. With fantasy (American) football and fantasy EPL joining the mix, it could be easy for you slack on your fantasy MLS team.

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Or so says Ives in this post.

I'm on record in the comments of my last SBI Supporter's View saying that I wouldn't have used the allocation for Cory Gibbs due to his injury history and cost against the salary cap (not like I actually know what that is, of course). But I am not the guy(s) in charge of personnel over at the HDC (that can only be a good thing) and I guess their calculus told them to pull the trigger.

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Cory Gibbs/BBC Sport

Despite the presence of the two of the most gifted players ever in Major League Soccer, the Los Angeles Galaxy appear to be sinking without a trace. A leaky defense and poor linkup play have made the Galaxy at this point a side that is struggling to remain competitive in the Western Conference of MLS.

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Condolences to those of you, who, like me, just gave up two hours of a lovely summer afternoon to watch FC Dallas massacre the Galaxy 4-0.

Two goals inside 90 seconds just after 15 minutes sealed the result, but it could have been 6-0 (or more). The Galaxy ended the game with just two shots on goal (Dallas had 14).

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Well, well, if the montage of the nine goals scored the last time these two teams met in New York doesn't amp you up for this game, I don't know what will.
Galaxy
* 1 - Steve Cronin (GK)
* 3 - Greg Vanney
* 4 - Ante Jazic
* 7 - Chris Klein
* 8 - Peter Vagenas
* 10 - Landon Donovan
* 12 - Troy Roberts
* 14 - Edson Buddle
* 15 - Alvaro Pires
* 20 - Carlos Ruiz
* 23 - David Beckham
New York
* 18 - Jon Conway (GK)
* 2 - Kevin Goldthwaite
* 4 - Carlos Mendes
* 6 - Seth Stammler
* 9 - Juan Pablo Angel
* 11 - Dave van den Bergh
* 13 - Jorge Rojas
* 19 - Dane Richards
* 20 - Oscar Echeverry
* 27 - Andrew Boyens
* 60 - Jeff Parke
Actually, besides Jozy, I think the player that New York will miss in this game is Clint Mathis. Click to continue reading...

Five changes for the Galaxy this evening after last week's loss to New England and no wins in the last three games.

Most fans will undoubtedly be pleased to know that even with an ankle injury to central defender Sean Franklin that was announced Wednesday the hapless Abel Xavier is nowhere to be seen.

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The Eastern Conference (and MLS) leading Revolution (9-4-3) visit the Western Conference leading Galaxy (6-5-3) tonight seeking to extend their undefeated streak over L.A. to eight regular season games, a record that dates back to April 2004.

The Galaxy haven't lost an Independence Day game since 2001, however, so it appears something has to give.

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