On Sunday night, the Banc of California Stadium will witness one of the derbies of the early MLS season. LAFC, leaders of the Western Conference, will host the Philadelphia Union, leaders of the Eastern Conference. Both squads have only one loss this season and will look to cement their positions as conference leaders in this match. Without further ado, let's look at three bold predictions for LAFC vs. Philadelphia Union in the clash between MLS leaders.

Bold LAFC v Philadelphia Union Predictions 

LAFC will score a ton of goals once again

Aside from being leaders of the Western Conference and the entire MLS standings, LAFC are also one of the best offensive teams in the league. Under coach Steve Cherundolo, this fairly young franchise turned around from a 9th-placed finish last season to a strong start this year and it really starts with their offense. The only team that is better attacking-wise than them is Austin FC, and even that is by a single goal. Of course, being the best team in the league, their defense is also great, but their attacking options are the ones that keep them in the first position.

This game should be no different than usual for LAFC. They will be facing a Philadelphia Union defense that only let six past them in nine games played, but apart from Minnesota United, they have not faced a single team in the top-10 of the MLS standings. With their home fans roaring, LAFC should be able to put at least two or three past the Union, which would not be out of the ordinary for them. LAFC only scored less than two on one occasion, their loss to city rivals LA Galaxy a few weeks back. Thus, it should be a great game with a lot of goals, but most in the net of the Union.

Philadelphia Union will lose their first spot and continue their spiral down the table 

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To be perfectly realistic, this Philly team is overachieving right now. As briefly mentioned above, they only played one team in the top-10 of the MLS standings this season. It is admirable that the Union were able to win five games and only lose one overall, but their recent form suggests that the spiral down that started with a 2-1 loss away to Toronto FC will continue in this game. Their defense is beyond solid, only conceding six, but they are set to face the most inspired attack this season in LAFC, aside from Austin FC. Thus, they will be completely exposed and do not have a huge chance of winning this game.

Coming back to the point of their overachievement this early on, it really stems most from their easy schedule. However, what is striking about it is that even through the easy schedule they did have, Philadelphia Union only scored 13 goals this season. To fully understand how poor that tally is, there are seven teams with more and two teams with the exact same goals scored in the entire MLS. Out of 30 teams, it does not sound half bad, but for a leading team in a conference, it is not a good look. Combined with their three games without a win in the past three matchdays, expecting a positive result from the Union will be very tough.

Carlos Vela will come back to his scoring ways in this match

After he opened up the MLS season with a hat-trick, many expected the seasoned veteran to continue in that same vein. Carlos Vela has scored 61 goals in 93 matches for LAFC, but he has also slowed down since his second year in LA. Yet, when he put three past the Colorado Rapids in the first matchday, most assumed Vela is truly back. One goal in the next eight suggests otherwise, but there is no time like the present for the Mexican to be back. It is also a derby, due to the positions of the teams on the table, so Vela could not have a better opportunity to showcase that he is still a top player, even at 33 years of age.

Coming up against a great defense like the one of the Philadelphia Union, LAFC will need to rely on individual brilliance to win this match. There are other contenders in the squad, like Ryan Hollingshead with three goals, but it just feels like a game where an individual with a ton of skill, as Vela truly is, will shine. A hattrick prediction would be too much but definitely look for Vela to score at least one or two goals for LAFC in the matchup of two top MLS teams.