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LAFC: 2020 Preview – Best team in MLS history?

ByMatt Coles|
LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 29: Eduard Atuesta #20 of Los Angeles FC celebrates his goal during the MLS Western Conference Final between Los Angeles FC and Seattle Sounders at the Banc of California Stadium on October 29, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. Seattle Sounders won the match 3-1 (Photo by Shaun Clark/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 29: Eduard Atuesta #20 of Los Angeles FC celebrates his goal during the MLS Western Conference Final between Los Angeles FC and Seattle Sounders at the Banc of California Stadium on October 29, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. Seattle Sounders won the match 3-1 (Photo by Shaun Clark/Getty Images)
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LAFC
LOS ANGELES, CA – OCTOBER 29: Eduard Atuesta #20 of Los Angeles FC celebrates his goal during the MLS Western Conference Final between Los Angeles FC and Seattle Sounders at the Banc of California Stadium on October 29, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. Seattle Sounders won the match 3-1 (Photo by Shaun Clark/Getty Images)

With less than a month to go until the start of the 2020 MLS campaign, we are taking a look at how each team has evolved since last year and their chances this term. This time, we look at Los Angeles FC.

2019 was a record-breaking campaign for Los Angeles FC. They accumulated more points during the regular season than any other team in MLS history, finishing the campaign with 72 points from their 34 games, breaking the record set by the New York Red Bulls just twelve months prior.

They also equalled the record for the most goals scored in a regular season and set the record for the best goal difference. They topped the Supporters’ Shield standings by some distance, taking the Western Conference by a storming 16 points. Calamity hit in the playoffs, however. LAFC avenged their derby disasters in the first-ever postseason El Trafico before falling in the Conference Finals to the Seattle Sounders.

LAFC faced rivals LA Galaxy in the first-ever post-season El Trafico, winning out in an eight-goal thriller 5-3. However, their playoff run came to an end in the Conference finals, as Seattle Sounders won 3-1, en route to taking the MLS Cup for s second time in four seasons. The Black and Gold also fared rather well in the U.S. Open Cup as they made it through to the quarter-finals, eventually falling to the Portland Timbers.

Here is how 2020 is shaping up for Los Angeles FC.

LOS ANGELES, CA – OCTOBER 29: Carlos Vela #10 of Los Angeles FC during the MLS Western Conference Final between Los Angeles FC and Seattle Sounders at the Banc of California Stadium on October 29, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. Seattle Sounders won the match 3-1 (Photo by Shaun Clark/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA – OCTOBER 29: Carlos Vela #10 of Los Angeles FC during the MLS Western Conference Final between Los Angeles FC and Seattle Sounders at the Banc of California Stadium on October 29, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. Seattle Sounders won the match 3-1 (Photo by Shaun Clark/Getty Images)

Best Performers

There is no real surprise as to who Los Angeles FC’s best performer over the course of the 2019 campaign was. Carlos Vela took home the MLS MVP for his own record-breaking season. The Mexican playmaker smashed the single-season goals record as he bagged 34 times in 31 games. Along with 15 assists, it all added up to an amazing 8.48/10 WhoScored rating for the term.

The MVP was one of six players in the squad to average more than a 7/10, with those six all playing in either midfield or attack for the black and gold in 2019. Diego Rossi and Adama Diomande, the other two forwards in the best XI for LAFC in 2019, also made it past that mark. At the age of just 21, Rossi showed his class with 16 goals, while Diomande scored eight and assisted seven others.

The midfield three also secured 7/10 or higher over the course of last term, with Eduard Atuesta coming out on top with a 7.57/10, thanks to scoring three times and adding 11 assists in 30 matches.. Mark-Anthony Kaye and Latif Blessing were the other two members of the squad to average out with more than a 7/10 rating.

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