Galaxy-Fire preview

The Los Angeles Galaxy cannot allow Saturday's disappointing loss at New York City FC to linger into a very winnable road game at the last-place Chicago Fire on Wednesday night at Toyota Park.

The Galaxy (9-4-11) are in fifth place in the Western Conference standings with 38 points. They have a six-point lead over sixth-place Portland, but need to find a way to post a win. They are winless in their last six matches, including a 1-0 loss to New York City FC on Saturday.

"This is very important," midfielder Nigel de Jong told the team's website ahead of the Chicago game. "We've got 10 games left to go, and we haven't won in a while. It'd be good for our confidence to get this victory on the road before we get back to L.A."

The Fire (5-11-7) would need a remarkable turnaround down the stretch to reach the playoffs. They trail sixth-place D.C. United by six points in the Eastern Conference standings. But they are coming off of one of their biggest wins of a tough season and their first on the road.

The Fire stunned the Montreal Impact 3-0 on Saturday. Luis Solignac, David Accam and Matt Polster had goals for Chicago to fuel the upset.

Fire coach Veljko Paunovic says his squad will bring a similar approach to Wednesday's match.

"For us, every game is a final," Paunovic told the team's website. "We approach every game the same, and we will do all necessary adjustments that we have to do in order to prepare well and win the game."

The Galaxy are 3-0-2 at Toyota Park since 2009, but have been out of sync on the offensive side of the pitch, de Jong said.

"We have to improve offensively to score goals and win games," the Galaxy midfielder told reporters. "We were struggling a bit against New York in the delivery into the final third. We just need to improve. We have to turn around very quick because we need good results."

This will be the only meeting between the two teams this season.