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• Colorado Rapids v Sporting Kansas City: Vermes want players to take responsibility ahead of road trip

  Peter Vermes urged his Sporting Kansas City players to take responsibility for their own position ahead of the upcoming MLS road trip to Colorado Rapids.

  SKC ended a three-game losing streak with a 2-0 victory over Austin FC in their last encounter, just their second victory in 15 league games.

  Kansas City are still bottom of the Western Conference and 11 points adrift of the playoff spots, though Vermes is desperate for fighting spirit ahead of a testing schedule.

  "We can't wait, we have a lot of games that are important coming up," SKC head coach Vermes said at his pre-match media availability.

  "Each game has its own importance to it, this all started last week but we need to keep going.

  "We go in with a plan, we have an idea, it sometimes comes down to how the guys recover. Hopefully no one gets injured, but also just minutes – it's going to be really important.

  "Each guy himself has to be ready for the responsibility of the position and knowing what we do when we have the ball, when we don't, they have to go into the game with that.

  "We don't have a lot of training time in between games, so they all have to be ready for that."

  The Burgundy Boys will be out to extend their home unbeaten run to five games in this clash, though they suffered a 3-0 defeat to Los Angeles FC last time out on the road.

  Colorado are fourth in the West standings but nine points adrift of the top two, a gap they will hope to shorten at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.

  PLAYERS TO WATCH

  Colorado Rapids – Rafael Navarro

  Rafael Navarro has scored in each of his last five home appearances for the Rapids, and will fancy his chances of extending an impressive run this time around.

  The only players with a longer streak in regular-season play in Colorado's history are Diego Rubio (six in 2022) and Mark Chung (also six in 2003).

  Sporting Kansas City – William Agada

  Goals have been hard to come by for the Kansas City side, with William Agada leading the way this season in MLS with five strikes.

  Agada has managed that tally from 20 games, averaging a goal every four matches, but will hope to add to his scoring returns in Colorado.

  MATCH PREDICTION – COLORADO RAPIDS WIN

  The Rapids are the favourites for victory on home soil in this clash, owing to a remarkable head-to-head record in meetings between this pair.

  Colorado are unbeaten in 10 straight regular-season home matches against SKC (W5 D5) and have lost only two of their 28 home league matches against them since August 2000 (W13 D13).

  This will also be Colorado’s third Independence Day meeting with Sporting, having won in both 2003 and 2005, with the expectation that history will repeat itself here.

  SKC are hardly in fine form either, having managed just their second win last time out in their previous 15 MLS matches (D2 L11).

  However, they managed the club's first clean sheet since a scoreless draw at LAFC on March 9, and will hope to build on that performance here.

  OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

  Colorado Rapids win – 48.2%

  Draw – 25.9%

  Sporting Kansas City win – 25.9%

• LA Galaxy v Los Angeles FC: Cherundolo relishing 'exciting' derby day

  Los Angeles FC head coach Steve Cherundolo is anticipating an "exciting" battle against derby rivals LA Galaxy on Thursday.

  The two teams are locked in at the top of the Western Conference, both on 40 points, though LAFC have the slight advantage of a game in hand.

  Cherundolo's side are unbeaten in nine MLS matches, winning eight of those, and have won their last two outings by an aggregate score of 9-2.

  Asked how LAFC would cope with the threat the Galaxy pose, Cherundolo praised the improvement of their neighbours.

  "It's our rivals. They're a team that scores a lot of goals," Cherundolo said.

  "They have weapons, and they've added to the transitions and got some defensive stability, so they're really a complete team this year.

  "They're top of the table with us, so they're a team that has found a way to get results while playing well, so it should be an exciting match."

  Meanwhile, the Galaxy are on a four-match winning run of their own and have only lost one of their last 11 matches in MLS.

  Head coach Greg Vanney is pleased with his side's defensive stability, and was quick to pick out goalkeeper, John McCarthy.

  "His maturity back there and his capacity to come up because he did come up with a couple big saves [against San Jose], but his capacity to come up with a save when we need it has been really strong for us," Vanney said.

  "You can't say too much about that, especially when you're on the road. The opposition is going to get something. There's going to be a moment here or there and when there has been, John has been there. Three shutouts is big for us."

  PLAYERS TO WATCH

  LA Galaxy – John McCarthy

  The Galaxy have won four straight matches, keeping clean sheets in each of the last three.

  It marks the first time LA has posted three straight shutout wins in all competitions since a four-match run in 2016, and McCarthy will be keen to equal that record in the derby.

  LAFC – Mateusz Boguesz

  Mateusz Bogusz has contributed to three goals in each of his last two matches (two goals and one assist versusSan Jose Earthquakes on June 21 and a hat-trick against Colorado Rapids on Saturday).

  The Pole is one of five players to do so this year after no more than three players had done so in any previous MLS season.

  MATCH PREDICTION: LOS ANGELES FC WIN

  Los Angeles FC have won five of their last six MLS matches against the Galaxy (L1, incl. playoffs), including a 2-1 victory on April 6. The Galaxy lost only three of the first 14 editions of El Trafico from LAFC's debut in MLS in 2018 through April 2022.

  LAFC have won 10 of their last 11 matches in all competitions (D1), including a 3-0 win over Colorado on Saturday. They are the first MLS team since Sporting Kansas City in 2011-12 to win 10 times in the span of 11 matches in all competitions.

  Meanwhile, this will be the Galaxy's 28th home match on the Fourth of July in 29 MLS seasons, only not doing so in 2020 (no game). LA have scored at least twice in nine of their last 10 Independence Day games dating back to 2013, only failing to do so in a 2-0 loss to Kansas City in 2021.

  OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

  LA Galaxy – 34%

  Draw – 25.8%

  LAFC – 40.2%

• Kroos not feeling nostalgic, aiming to end career with Euro 2024 glory

  Toni Kroos says he is not feeling nostalgic about the possibility of his career ending on Friday when Germany face Spain in the Euro 2024 quarter-finals.

  Kroos came out of international retirement to play for Germany on home soil at the European Championships, but announced in May that he would be retiring from football at the end of the tournament.

  The German won LaLiga before earning a sixth Champions League title in his farewell game for Real Madrid and is now aiming to finish his career by lifting the Euros trophy for the first time.

  With a place in the next round not guaranteed, Kroos could play his final game on Friday should Germany lose to Spain, but that is not something he is thinking about.

  "It is the second most important title you can win, and it would have a huge importance for me," he said. "If I did not see having the chance to do it with the team, I would not have [come back].

  "It would be a sensational end, but I have also considered the possibility of it not happening. I am not nostalgic at all and did not bring any treats for [journalists] either.

  "I do not expect it to be my last game, so I assume we will see each other again."

  Kroos has been an influential figure in the side already. In the group stage, he completed 95% of his passes (411/431), the highest completion rate by a player to attempt 300+ passes on record in the competition.

  After a string of disappointing major tournament results in recent years, with Germany being knocked out of the last two World Cups in the group stage, Kroos is confident they can go all the way this time around.

  "There were big doubts about the tournament before it started," he added. "That's normal after the previous tournaments we had.

  "So we've now reached a minimal goal and, whatever the result, we won't be speaking about a tournament catastrophe here. But anything that comes now is not a bonus.

  "We, as a team, have the goal to win the tournament. So, it is not a bonus, but we are at a stage in the tournament we wanted to reach.

  "We should be satisfied, but the demand within the team is to progress further, and we are convinced we can do it."

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