LA Galaxy look to make some CONCACAF noise

After winning the domestic double last year (MLS and US Open Cups), the LA Galaxy are looking to cause some excitement in the CONCACAF Champions' Cup. They will start their run tonight at home and on Fox Soccer Channel. Their challenger, only last year's Champions' Cup winner, Costa Rica's Deportivo Saprissa.

Saprissa took third place in last year's Club World Championship, but for tonight's game they will be without suspended forward Ronald Gomez and defender Jervis Drummond and injured midfielder Alonso Solis.

Just like New England, LA will face a big disadvantage due to the lack of training time. They are only three-weeks into their preseason training camp while Saprissa is about a quarter of the way through their season. This means that the Galaxy will relly heavily on the players that trained in the US national camp.

Look for Todd Dunivant to try to impress as he knows Bruce Arena will be watching. Also, Landon Donovan will need to take control of the game (at least at the start) in order to frustrate Saprissa and allow his team to settle. This also might allow Herculez Gomez to become the 'surprise' of the night as Saprissa's defense will be much more focused on Donovan.

Kevin Hartman should be in good shape between the posts and Tyrone Marshall seems fired up to help on the defensive side of things.

If LA has a good first 15 minutes, they should be able to end the night with a victory.

LA Galaxy vs. Deportivo Saprissa
11pm EST
Fox Soccer Channel