Whitecaps' goal vs. LAFC: Avoid wild-card game

For the Vancouver Whitecaps, the stakes of Sunday's match against visiting LAFC are pretty straightforward.

"It's very important," manager Vanni Sartini said. "Unfortunately we didn't do well in the last couple of games. So now this game became a game that can make us get back in the top seven and avoid the first round of the playoffs and to get back basically where we have been for 33 games. So we want to be there at the end."

While Vancouver (13-11-8, 47 points) already has assured itself a playoff spot, the Whitecaps can vault back above Minnesota United into seventh place in the Western Conference with a victory.

That would put Sartini's squad directly into round one rather than in a single-elimination wild-card match against Portland.

But the Whitecaps will be shorthanded in their attempt to earn a result, with MLS MVP candidate Ryan Gauld among the players to miss the affair due to an international call-up. Attacker Fafa Picault and holding midfielder Andres Cubas also will miss out, though team scoring leader Brian White should be available.

LAFC (17-8-7, 58 points) also will have down numbers, with team-leading scorer Denis Bouanga and promising teenage prospect David Martinez among those absent. That duo has combined for four goals and an assist during the Black-and-Gold's three-match winning streak.

Cristian Olivera is also on international duty, which means the offensive burden will fall on France's all-time leading international goal scorer Olivier Giroud and versatile Polish attacker Mateusz Bogusz. It's the latter who has more track record at the MLS level, with Giroud still looking for his first MLS goal since signing this summer.

LAFC, sitting in second place, still could finish first in the conference if they win their final two games and the West-leading LA Galaxy lose their season finale. But head coach Steve Cherundolo appears to be more focused on consolidating his club's current second-seed position.

"I'm not sure it's an extra motivator," Cherundolo said of topping the West. "It's there. It's part of the reality of the makeup of the situation. But winning games at this point of the season is motivation enough. And also to secure up the second spot."