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• Vancouver Whitecaps v Los Angeles FC: Sartini hoping to benefit from missing international players

  Vancouver Whitecaps head coach Vanni Sartini believes the international break will benefit his side ahead of welcoming Los Angeles FC to BC Place this weekend.

  The hosts will be without top scorer Ryan Gauld along with Ali Ahmed, Sam Adekugbe, Andres Cubas, Fafa Picault and Pedro Vite as they aim to break into the top seven of the Western Conference and avoid playing in the first round of the playoffs.

  However, Sartini believes that this presents an opportunity for his fringe players to step up against one of the better sides in the division, having seen his side fall to back-to-back defeats since clinching their place in the post-season.

  “It is very important to win,” Sartini said. “Unfortunately, we did not do well in the last couple of games so now this game has become one where we can get back into the top seven and avoid the first round of the playoffs.

  “It’s important to get back to where we have been for the last 30 plus games. We need to reset and good. I think it’s also a good think, I might sound crazy, that we have the international break.

  “We have a lot of players that will need to step up and need to be there, so they come perhaps a little fresher and without the bad memories of the last couple of games.”

  LAFC, meanwhile, come into the encounter on the back of four consecutive wins in all competitions, including their US Open Cup final triumph.

  The Black and Gold know a victory will seal second place in the Western Conference standings after securing a 3-0 away win over Sporting Kansas City, though they too will be without three first-team players for the trip to Vancouver.

  “All in all, we’re happy,” head coach Steve Cherundolo said after their last victory. “They were important points for us. A good performance.”

  “For us to keep getting these results is huge,” said defender Aaron Long.

  “To go as far as we did in Leagues Cup and to go all the way to the end in the Open Cup, and still be fighting for first place in the league is really tough to do.”

  PLAYERS TO WATCH

  Vancouver Whitecaps – Brian White

  In the absence of top scorer Gauld, who is on international duty with Scotland, White will carry Vancouver’s goal threat for the visit of LAFC.

  The American has played more games against this weekend’s opponents than any other team he has faced in the MLS (13), winning four of those (D3 L6), while scoring three times.

  LAFC – Mateusz Bogusz

  Bogusz has 20 goal involvements (14 goals, six assists) in 30 MLS appearances this term, netting a goal against Vancouver in LAFC’s 3-0 win earlier this season.

  The Pole, however, has won just one of his three games against Vancouver (D1 L1), and he will be hoping to get his record into positive numbers this time around.

  MATCH PREDICTION: LAFC WIN

  The hosts are currently on 58 points with two matches left to play this term. They are trying to reach the 60-point mark for the third time in the last six seasons (2019, 2022) while no other MLS team has done so more than once in that time.

  Vancouver have lost only two of their last nine regular-season meetings with LAFC (W4 D3), though one of those defeats was a 3-0 loss against the Black and Gold earlier this campaign.

  The Whitecaps come into the game on the back of consecutive defeats for the first time since June. They have not lost three straight matches in all competitions since the start of the 2023 season.

  OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

  Vancouver Whitecaps – 29.6%

  Draw – 24.8%

  LAFC – 45.6%

• Wales will benefit from Iceland collapse in long term, says Bellamy

  Wales will benefit from the experience of Friday's Nations League draw with Iceland despite squandering a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2, believes boss Craig Bellamy.

  Bellamy's reign began with a positive return of four points from Nations League matches against Turkiye and Montenegro, but they suffered their first major setback under him on Friday.

  Brennan Johnson and Harry Wilson scored to give Wales a 2-0 half-time lead at Laugardalsvollur, only for Logi Tomasson's strike and Danny Ward's own goal to earn Iceland a point.

  Despite Iceland registering the most shots they have ever recorded in a Nations League match (20), Bellamy was not too disheartened by the result.

  "It was good, I enjoyed it. It was what I expected to be honest, I said going out second half that this would be tough," Bellamy told S4C.

  "We'll benefit so much from that 45 minutes, it's so good for us. In the long run this will be beneficial. 

  "Obviously to be 2-0 up and draw is disappointing, but it was a pleasing performance. It was about me learning about the players and them learning from us.

  "It's never good to concede, I don't like it, we'll look at it again. I felt momentum played a big part. It's about us understanding when to take the sting out the game, which will come.

  "Overall, I'm pleased with the performance, we've had two yellows which will mean a change on Monday, but it's predictable due to different styles of refereeing. It is what it is."

  Despite a frustrating second half, Bellamy is the first manager in Wales' history to go unbeaten through his first three competitive games at the helm, with one win and two draws.

• Bosnia-Herzegovina 1-2 Germany: Undav double secures second Nations League win

  Deniz Undav netted twice in the space of six first-half minutes as Germany held on for a 2-1 win against Bosnia-Herzegovina in their Nations League match at the Stadion Bilino Polje.

  The Stuttgart striker found the back of the net in the 30th and 36th minutes to pull Julian Nagelsmann’s side into a two-goal lead, but captain Edin Dzeko’s goal for the hosts after restart set up a tense ending to the game which the Germans navigated. 

  Florian Wirtz ran onto a lofted ball from Robert Andrich before laying it back for Undav to open the scoring at the half-hour mark in the League A Group 3 fixture, but Bosnia-Herzegovina were unfortunate not to equalise in an instant. 

  Ermedin Demirovic broke free on a counter just four minutes later and beat German goalkeeper Alexander Nubel with his shot only to see it brush the top of the crossbar on its way out. 

  It proved to be a costly miss as Undav turned in a low cross from Maximilian Mittelstadt a couple of minutes later to give the visitors a two-goal cushion. 

  Undav thought he had his hat-trick in the 58th minute only for the goal to be ruled out for offside before Dzeko halved the deficit for Sergej Barbarez’s side heading home a Benjamin Tahriovic corner with 20 minutes left to play. 

  But the hosts failed to find an equaliser as group toppers Germany preserved their unbeaten start and went two points clear of the Netherlands with their second win. Bosnia-Herzegovina, meanwhile, sit bottom with only one point from three matches.