Carson, CA (My Sportsbook) - The last time the Los Angeles Galaxy and FC Dallas met - in the Group Stage of the SupereLiga tournament in late July - the two teams combined for 11 goals with the Galaxy winning 6-5 at Pizza Hut Park to advance to the knockout stage of the North American club championship.

A lot has happened since then for both teams.

David Beckham has played a couple league fixtures before being sidelined for most of the season with a knee injury for the Galaxy. L.A. has also lost eight of 11 league fixtures after advancing to the SuperLiga finals where it lost in penalty kicks to Mexican champion Pachuca.

The Hoops have lost just three league fixtures since that time and are poised for a strong playoff run with the addition of Brazilian playmaker Denilson, the emergence of Columbian midfielder Juan Toja and the recent form of Guatemalan striker Carlos Ruiz.

To say the two teams' fortunes have gone in opposite directions since that July 31st matchup would be an understatement.

Both Dallas and Los Angeles are coming off midweek Major League Soccer fixtures in which they earned late draws to earns points, but both will be searching for a win when they square off at The Home Depot Center Sunday night.

The Galaxy showed Wednesday when they came back from an early 1-0 deficit at Real Salt Lake, that they haven't given up on the season or coach Frank Yallop.

"Who knows. Seven games (left in the season). If we can get five wins maybe we have a chance (at the playoffs)," Galaxy forward Landon Donovan said after the draw Wednesday. "But I don't think we're looking that way. I think we want to perform well and I thought we did well tonight. We would've felt better if we would've won the game but we can still move forward."

The Hoops are riding high after their draw against Chicago, when Ruiz scored three minutes into second-half stoppage time to draw with Chicago, which is battling for the eighth and final playoff spot.

"He played well last week (against New England), worked very hard and got his rewards when he scored two goals," Dallas coach Steve Morrow said of Ruiz. "I thought he was a little bit quieter in the second half than he was in the first and wasn't moving quite as much but that's Carlos. He's always going to get a chance somewhere. He had a couple that he was disappointed not to finish earlier in the game and he's always there right to the end of the game and a lot of credit to him. I thought he finished it very, very well."

Dallas will be without one of its better defenseman Sunday in Clarence Goodson because of yellow card accumulation while Pablo Ricchetti is questionable with a hamstring injury he sustained Thursday against Chicago. Forward Kenny Cooper is still out with the broken leg he suffered earlier this season, but other than that, the team is healthy.

The Galaxy will be without Beckham and defender Chris Albright who are both probably out for the season while a host of other players are nursing various injuries.

After Sunday's fixture, the Galaxy will be at Kansas City on Thursday while Dallas hosts Western table leading Houston on Sept. 30.