San Diego FC spent the last week playing in the Leagues Cup. Is it a tournament that matters? Well, it all depends on whether a team wins the first match. San Diego’s group stage in the Leagues Cup was unique. San Diego FC had to travel to Mexico to face off against Club América. That does not usually happen, as Leagues Cup matches are hosted in the United States. After traveling back from Mexico, San Diego played against cross-border rival Club Tijuana, and the final match was against Puebla.
Club América
The Leagues Cup can be an opportunity to try new things. Head Coach Mikey Varas opted to try something new in the first match of the tournament in Mexico City. It was a rainy match, played at high altitude. Mikey decided that this was a match where three center backs were necessary. Ian Pilcher, Manu Duah, and Chris McVey were the defenders in the back line. The wingbacks were Luca Bombino and Dagur Thorhallsson. The midfielders were Gabriel Pirani, Onni Valakari, and Jeppe Tverskov. Up front were Lewis Morgan and Anders Dreyer—a very strong eleven to kick off the tournament.
Unfortunately, the new formation did not help, as Club América was able to put up three goals in the first half. On the first goal for Club América, left winger Brian Rodríguez was able to get past Onni Valakari twice on the near side and put the ball away just outside the six-yard box. It was a great individual effort by Rodríguez and poor defending by San Diego FC. On the second goal, Rodríguez received a long pass in the final third, dribbled down the end line, and worked his way inside the penalty area. Rodríguez then centered a pass to Érick Sánchez to make it 2–0. On the third goal, Rodríguez received the ball at midfield, dribbled into the final third, and slipped a pass inside the penalty area to Isaías Violante, who finished it into the back of the net to make it 3–0.
In the first half, San Diego held 58% of possession, took 7 total shots with 3 on target, and had 6 touches in the opposition’s box. In comparison, Club América had 12 total shots, 6 on target, and 25 touches in the opposition’s box. San Diego tried a mix of shots from inside and outside the penalty area, but nothing worked. Defensively, San Diego looked like a side trying out a new formation for the first time, and it did not look great.
San Diego made a couple of changes to start the second half, with Oscar Verhoeven coming in for Thorhallsson and Ian Murphy replacing Ian Pilcher. At the hour mark, Dreyer made way for David Vazquez and Valakari was replaced by Aníbal Godoy. Those substitutions made an immediate impact. Godoy dribbled forward and played a pass into the penalty area. The cross was met by Oscar Verhoeven, whose quick strike went directly to David Vazquez centrally in the six-yard box. Vazquez missed his swing, but the ball traveled through to Luca Bombino, who finished it for the goal. The score was now 3–1. Varas’s substitutions made a quick impact—something that has not been said often in 2026—but that was all from San Diego in this match.
San Diego won the second half, but total shots were 3 (1 on target) for SDFC compared to 11 (5 on target) for Club América. Goalkeeper CJ Dos Santos was forced into 8 saves on a busy night. Despite coming on as a second-half substitute, Ian Murphy tied Manu Duah for the team high in defensive contributions. There were not many other positives from the match, aside from everyone returning from Mexico healthy.
Club Tijuana
Moving on to the next match against Club Tijuana, the lineup was rotated from the previous match as San Diego returned to its usual 4-3-3 formation. Bombino, Duah, Murphy, and Verhoeven made up the backline, with Alejandro Alvarado, Godoy, and Pirani in midfield, and Bryan Zamble, Marcus Ingvartsen, and Dreyer up front. San Diego looked like themselves again in their familiar system. Anders Dreyer appeared to score in the second minute, but after a VAR review, the goal was disallowed.
That setback did not stop San Diego’s attack. In the 22nd minute, Alejandro Alvarado won the ball at midfield and pushed forward. He played a pass out to Dreyer, who quickly returned it to Alvarado. Alvarado then played a central pass to Bryan Zamble, who buried it in the back of the net. The first half was heavily dominated by SDFC in possession at 66%, though San Diego generated only 3 shots (1 on target) compared to Tijuana’s 5 shots (0 on target).
In the second half, substitutions were held off until the 60th minute, when Valakari replaced Pirani, Morgan came on for Zamble, and Kieran Sargeant replaced Bombino. San Diego’s attack did not threaten again until the 85th minute, when Onni Valakari had an effort saved by the goalkeeper, followed a few minutes later by a Marcus Ingvartsen header that went just over the crossbar. Second-half statistics favored Club Tijuana with 10 shots (2 on target) and 13 touches in the opposition box, while SDFC logged 8 shots (2 on target) and 9 touches in the box. The major positive was that San Diego held onto the 1–0 lead and avoided conceding late. While generating more attack to finish off chances would have been ideal, San Diego earned the three points.
Puebla
The final Leagues Cup match came against a Puebla side that had earned zero points in the tournament. San Diego could only advance if multiple teams ahead of them lost while SDFC ran up the goal differential, making it essentially a glorified friendly. San Diego deployed a heavily rotated lineup. Duran Ferree started in goal behind a backline of Kieran Sargeant, Osvald Søe, Chris McVey, and Thorhallsson. The midfield featured Bryce Duke and Pedro Soma alongside Jeppe Tverskov, while Zamble, Lewis Morgan, and David Vazquez started up front. Notable players given the night off entirely included Manu Duah and Anders Dreyer.
Scoring opened early in the fourth minute when San Diego won a corner kick. Osvald Søe knocked the ball in to put SDFC up 1–0, with Jeppe Tverskov providing the assist on a designed set piece by flicking a header directly to Søe. Puebla answered back in the 30th minute. A sloppy midfield pass by Pedro Soma, who was attempting to find Vazquez, went straight to Puebla. Puebla worked the ball out wide to Garnica, who attempted a shot from outside the box. McVey deflected the ball onto the post, but the ricochet went straight to Puebla’s Kevin Velasco, who scored to level the match. Poor midfield passing allowed the sequence to happen, alongside passive defending that allowed Garnica to move freely through SDFC’s end. San Diego FC logged 8 total shots (2 on target) and 9 touches in the opposition’s box in the first half.
The second half brought changes for SDFC, as Valakari replaced Tverskov, Alex Mighten came in for Lewis Morgan, and Ian Murphy replaced Chris McVey. In the 75th minute, Godoy entered for Soma and Ingvartsen replaced Zamble. Once again, late substitutions made the difference. Godoy delivered a key pass in the final third to Alex Mighten, who quickly passed back to Valakari. Valakari played the ball forward to Bryce Duke, who traded passes with Thorhallsson before delivering a cross into the penalty area for David Vazquez to head home, making it 2–1 for SDFC.
A few minutes later, San Diego executed its signature build-up from the back. Ferree passed to Sargeant on the near side, who dribbled into midfield and played the ball forward to Vazquez. Vazquez switched play across the pitch to Alex Mighten, and with Thorhallsson making a run into the box, Thorhallsson put a strike on target that was saved. The goalkeeper could only push the ball away, and Thorhallsson followed up to kick the rebound into the net.
Puebla managed to score late on a cross into the penalty area to make it 3–2, which stood as the final score. San Diego allowed younger players to gain experience in a match that had little tournament bearing, while Puebla looked ready to head home. Conceding late on a cross remains a recurring issue this season that requires adjustment, but overall, seeing younger players and returning figures like Soma and Duke get minutes was a positive outcome.
LAFC Preview
With the Leagues Cup concluded, San Diego returns to MLS regular-season action, starting with a matchup against LAFC. Los Angeles FC currently sits in second place in the Western Conference with 10 wins, 4 draws, 5 losses, and a +16 goal differential. Their home record is the second-best in the conference at 7-1-2 with a +13 goal differential.
Attacking profiles between SDFC and LAFC are remarkably similar. LAFC has scored 35 goals on a 24.49 xG, while SDFC has scored 32 goals on a 28.06 xG. LAFC ranks fifth in the league in fast-break goals with 6. However, tactical styles differ: LAFC is comfortable playing without the ball, posting a 45.9% possession rate that ranks 26th in the league. They are an efficient passing team in the final third, completing 78.2% of their passes there (second in MLS). Like SDFC, LAFC prefers playing ground through-balls over aerial crosses, recording 27 through-balls this season compared to SDFC’s 28.
Defensively, LAFC is a formidable group, ranking third in goals allowed (19) and tenth in xG allowed (23.85). Opponents must work hard for opportunities, as LAFC holds a low shot-on-target conversion rate allowed of 7.85%. The team ranks in the top ten in MLS for tackles (288), blocks (77), and clearances (447). Goalkeeper Hugo Lloris holds the third-highest save percentage in the league at 76.3%, the fifth-lowest xGOT conceded at 17.7, and the seventh-highest goals prevented at 4.7. Combined with a strong backline, Lloris anchors one of the league’s top defensive structures.
Leagues Cup Hangover?
San Diego took a tactical approach on Wednesday by heavily rotating the starting eleven in their Leagues Cup finale. LAFC did not rotate as heavily in their match against Querétaro, playing regular starters such as Denis Bouanga, Son Heung-min, Mark Delgado, Nkosi Tafai, Ryan Porteous, and Hugo Lloris for the full 90 minutes. It was a physical match in which Querétaro committed 16 fouls, and David Martínez appeared to pick up an injury late after limping off the pitch.
Prior to the Leagues Cup, LAFC was in strong form, winning three and drawing one in four league matches while scoring 11 goals and allowing only 2. Underneath those results, underlying metrics suggested some good fortune, as LAFC recorded a -1.5 goal differential across those four games, with matches against Real Salt Lake and Vancouver standing out as statistical outliers. Son Heung-min was particularly sharp, scoring in all four matches.
Saturday will serve as a strong test for SDFC to establish momentum in the second half of the season, especially with roster reinforcements arriving. Mikey Varas announced that newly acquired Designated Player Elias Achouri will be available in Los Angeles, which could provide the spark San Diego needs.
Leave a Reply