Following recovery, a video session and activation training in the wake of a 4-1 home loss to Houston on Sunday, the Los Angeles Football Club packed up for a six-day road trip.
Heading to St. Louis prior to several nights in Nashville leading to a clash of the defeated CONCACAF Champions Cup semifinalists, another short turnaround will push LAFC to the limit until the FIFA World Cup break.
Sitting third in the Western Conference standings, LAFC (6-3-3, 21 points) can help repel a post-CONCACAF slump coming off a 4-0 defeat in Toluca, Mexico, one week ago by taking points against St. Louis CITY SC for an eighth straight match (six shutouts).
Currently 14th in the West, St. Louis (2-6-3, 9 points) returns home after playing three on the road, including a U.S. Open Cup victory over the Chicago Fire, when midfielder Eduard Löwen scored the game-winner to send his team into the quarterfinals.
Since signing with St. Louis leading into the team’s conference-winning 2023 expansion season, the 29-year-old Löwen, hailing from Idar-Oberstein, Germany, has 40 goal contributions (18 goals, 22 assists) in 63 starts across 75 regular-season appearances.
This February, prior to the start of the 2026 season, Löwen announced that he would step away from soccer to attend to his ailing 28-year-old wife Ilona. She passed away on March 9, following a two-year fight with brain cancer. That same week, St. Louis played LAFC at BMO Stadium. In lieu of answering questions after the match – LAFC’s fourth of a record six consecutive MLS shutouts to begin the year – head coach Marc Dos Santos read a statement honoring Löwen and the German’s family, referencing their deeply held Christian faith and personal connection.
“Regardless of the result,” Dos Santos said, “I had this already written: ‘Eduard your testimony blessed me, my kids, and I think many people in the soccer community. What happened in your family and how you can see good in it is so encouraging. you are a warrior. you inspired us. and I know God will use you in incredible ways. In a world that everything goes at 100 miles-per-hour and we can be so selfish in our little world we have to be reminded how God is enough. Thank you so much for your testimony.’”
Speaking publicly last week for the first time since his wife passed, Löwen thanked everyone around him for the overwhelming support.
“That doesn’t mean everything is fine and I’m doing OK,” Löwen said. “I know I have a long way ahead of me and that’s OK.”
“There’s nothing I can say to justify who she was,” he said. “There’s no vocabulary to express the love that we shared, the love that we had for each other.”
Describing Löwen as a “top man,” Dos Santos looked forward to connecting with him Wednesday at Energizer Park.
“We see so many star players that are terrible for young people to look at,” Dos Santos said, “and Löwen is different.”
Debuting this season on April 18 with a late goal in a 4-1 loss in Seattle, Löwen has five appearances for first-year St. Louis head coach Yann Damet, 35, an assistant under Wilfried Nancy at Columbus, where they defeated LAFC to win the MLS Cup title in 2023.
Struggling during seven league games without Löwen, St. Louis is one of three teams with single-digit points through 11 MLS contests. Against LAFC, the team will line up without midfielder Chris Durkin, who started all 13 games under Damet. Durkin was shown a red card in the waning moments of a 1-0 win at Colorado on Saturday.
LAFC is missing fullback Sergi Palencia, who was injured against Houston and won’t return until after the World Cup break, Dos Santos confirmed. Denis Bouanga, suspended against the Dynamo for yellow card accumulation, is available.
LAFC AT ST. LOUIS CITY SC
When: Wednesday, 5:30 p.m. PT
Where: Energizer Park, St. Louis, Mo.
TV/Radio: Apple TV/710 AM, 980 AM, 1230 AM