CARSON, Calif. -- Chivas USA have been on a skid. In their last two league games, the club has lost road games to Chicago and Kansas City. Consequently, the Red-and-White find themselves in fifth place in the Western Conference table.
There is nothing like a SuperClasico, though, to snap Chivas USA out of their funk.
"Whatever bad form you are in, you forget about that in these games," Francisco Mendoza said. "This is a key game in terms of confidence. If we can get a win it will give us some confidence back but also more importantly it will keep us in the playoff race."
Chivas USA will close out their SuperClasico series with the rival Los Angeles Galaxy on Thursday at The Home Depot Center (11 p.m. ET; ESPN2). In two previous meetings, Chivas USA have a draw and a loss but can salvage the series with a victory as the trophy that goes to the winner is still up for grabs.
A year ago, Chivas USA had a pair of 3-0 wins against the Galaxy down the stretch, wins that helped fuel the club down the stretch en route to a Western Conference title.
Despite the glitz and glamour that comes with a SuperClasico, though, Preki said what mattered more to him was the bottom line.
"I'm not really concerned about the SuperClasico. I am more concerned about three points. I would love to get the trophy but I would love three points even more," Preki said. "For us this is about three points. This is about trying to push for the playoffs."
In that push for the playoffs, Chivas USA will need to continue finding contributions from some unexpected sources. Ante Razov (knee) and Sacha Kljestan (Olympics) have not played in each of the last two league games. Without two of their key attacking players -- and the only players who have scored against the Galaxy this season -- Chivas USA have had problems generating offense.
Chivas USA have not scored a goal in the run of play without their dynamic duo. But in Kansas City, Chivas USA scored a pair of goals -- one on a penalty and the other from a corner kick.
"Run of play, set pieces -- they call count the same," Preki said. "Run of play counts as one. Set piece counts as one too. We'll take them any way we can."
Without Kljestan and Razov, Chivas USA will have to find different ways to score. There might be help coming from Maykel Galindo, who trained this week without major setback and is poised to play for the second time in three weeks -- and for the second time in three months. Galindo had not played since April but returned to face the Fire on Aug. 2.
Still, missing Kljestan and Razov will be a challenge even if Galindo regains his health.
"They are two guys that have a presence in the attacking third but sometimes we're going to have to score on set pieces and make it ugly and find different ways to win," Jesse Marsch said. "Even though we're a team that tries to play with a very high football IQ, we pride ourselves in being winners. It doesn't matter who is here. It doesn't matter who is not here. We're coming into this big game and we feel good with what our team is about."
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