Finally, the Galaxy reclaimed the top spot on the Major League Soccer podium last year, hoisting the trophy for the first time in a decade (since 2014).

Greg Vanney secured his second championship as a manager in this league. His prior triumph came when he was the head coach of Toronto in 2017.

Considering the extensive talent they have at each position, there's no valid argument against the possibility of this team repeating as champions. Notably, no MLS team has achieved this feat since the Galaxy successfully defended their title in 2012.

In Carson last season, LA remained undefeated in MLS matches. They won their four home playoff fixtures in 2024 with an aggregate score of 14 - 3.

During the 2024 regular season, the Galaxy led the Western Conference with 69 goals. This is the joint - highest goal tally for the team in a single season, equaling the performance of the 2014 squad.

Since 2022, when they won 1 - 0 against New York City FC, who were the reigning MLS Cup champions at that time, this club has not won their regular season opener.

On Sunday, San Diego embarks on their MLS journey, with the aspiration of mirroring the successful expansion that St Louis City experienced in 2023.

That year St Louis became the first expansion side in this competition to finish on top of the Western Conference table with 56 points, and San Diego have some exciting attacking players that may be able to give them similar success in 2025.

We saw some of that quality on display last weekend as they netted six goals against the Red Bulls for their only pre-season victory.

While they had a strong attacking display last weekend, San Diego have looked vulnerable on the back end, conceding six goals in their three pre-season affairs.

Head coach Mikey Varas comes with a strong reputation for developing players at the youth level, guiding the American Under-20 team to a CONCACAF Championship in 2022.

Historically, expansion teams in MLS have proven to figure out this league quickly, with the last five new MLS sides making the playoffs within their first two seasons.

A torn ACL suffered in the Western Conference final last November means that Galaxy star midfielder Riqui Puig will not be available at least for the early portion of 2025, while Joseph Paintsil may be a question mark for Sunday because of a hamstring strain.

Over the off-season, they added Christian Ramirez, Matheus Nascimento (on loan from Botafogo), Lucas Sanabria and Mathias Jorgensen while letting Dejan Joveljic, Jalen Neal, Mark Delgado and Gaston Brugman move on to other MLS teams.

One of the first big moves San Diego made was signing Mexican Hirving Lozano, before acquiring Luca de la Torre on loan, while also adding Andres Reyes and Anders Dreyer.

They will be counting on the experience of Paddy McNair at the back with the Northern Ireland international playing nearly 300 matches at club level in England, while they also brought in Jeppe Tverskov and Marcus Ingvartsen from the Danish Superliga.

Los Angeles Galaxy possible starting lineup:

McCarthy; Yamane, Garces, Yoshida, Nelson; Cerrillo, Sanabria; Pec, Reus, Fagundez; Ramirez

San Diego possible starting lineup:

Dos Santos; Kumado, McNair, Reyes, Negri; De la Torres, Tverskov, Valakari; Dreyer, Lozano; Ingvartsen