After the Los Angeles Galaxy defeated the Houston Dynamo to capture the MLS Cup in November, there was talk about how many titles the star-studded team could win.
Lately, the discussion has centered around when the Galaxy will earn their next victory.
Saturday's rematch of the MLS Cup final has lost a considerable amount of luster, with the Galaxy on a six-game winless streak and Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane unavailable while on international duty.
Los Angeles (3-7-2) capped its dominating run to the title with a 1-0 victory over the Dynamo in the final - the goal coming from Donovan - but the defending champs have the worst record in the Western Conference and are winless since April 21.
"I'm a little bit surprised because in the preseason, everyone was picking them to do pretty (well)," Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear told the league's official website. "But they still have enough quality. It does raise some eyebrows with the way they've started."
The latest defeat drew a lot of attention. Los Angeles led San Jose 2-0 on Thursday before allowing three goals in the final 15 minutes of regulation and four minutes of stoppage time, falling 3-2.
"We can't be up 2-0 at home and they get three unanswered goals. That's just unacceptable," defender Sean Franklin said. "It just seems like we can't get any luck to go our way - a bounce, a call, something. It just seems like things aren't going the way we wanted them to go."
The Galaxy continue to play without Keane, who leads the team with three goals, and Donovan, who has two. David Beckham, who had an assist in the last loss, will be available Saturday and is eager to help the Galaxy put the stunning defeat behind them.
"It's good to have a tough game on the weekend so soon," he said.
Fortunately for Beckham and the Galaxy, the Dynamo (3-3-4) aren't playing well either, with one win in eight games.
Houston earned its second straight draw last Saturday, 2-all against New England. Luiz Camargo scored the equalizer with 3 minutes left in regulation after the Revolution had gone ahead in the 57th minute.
"We outplayed them and now it's a matter of cutting down the mistakes and creating a little more going forward," captain Brian Ching said. "I think it's a game that I feel like we should have won if you look at the way the game went."
Houston will see if a return home helps. The Dynamo played their first seven games on the road before opening their new stadium with a 1-0 win over D.C. on May 12. They played to a scoreless draw there against Portland three days later.
"Typically we're a better team at home then on the road ... so we would like to keep that going," midfielder Adam Moffat said.
Houston defender Geoff Cameron, who has started all 10 games, won't be available Saturday after being named to join Donovan on the U.S. national team last week.
