Sizzling Chivas USA took a 1-0 win over Real Salt Lake on Saturday, moving to 7-1-1 on the season, and adding pressure to Seattle's noon match with the Galaxy.

Here's the Chivas-RSL game report.

Elsewhere in the West, Houston kept stuggling Dallas struggling with a 1-0 win. The Sounders visit Dallas next Saturday.

It feels a little odd to be sitting here on a Saturday afternoon with no game to go to. The upside, I guess, is a chance to watch FC Dallas and the Houston Dynamo at 6 p.m. on ESPN2, and get in a little advance scouting for the Sounders game in Dallas next week.

Today also gave us one extra day to get Sigi Schmid to spill his guts about tomorrow's starting lineup, although that didn't go over so well.

Me: "Is today the day you're going to tell us your lineup?"

Schmid: "No."

We got a little more out of him on a couple of other topics:

On LA: "They’ve got a couple of very gifted individuals up front in Landon Donovan and Edson Buddle. And then they have guys who have a lot of experience and serve a good ball on the flanks in Eddie Lewis and (Chris) Klein. So when you have people like that on the field it makes them very dangerous."

On whether LA's Landon Donovan belongs in the discussion as MLS' best player: "He does. When Landon comes to play, there’s nobody who can do some of the things that he can do. His fitness level is supurb. He’s technically very clean. He gets up and down the field."

On LA's record, which includes a one-goal win, a one-goal loss and five draws: "They’re playing a style that allows them to stay in the game. What’s what every coach wants to do, he wants to give his team a chance to win the game. Right now they style that they’re playing and the manner in which they’re playing gives them a chance to win the game."

Finally, a short look ahead to tomorrow's game:

LOS ANGELES GALAXY (1-1-5, 8 pts.)
AT SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC (4-2-1; 14 pts.)
Noon Sunday, Qwest Field.
TV: KONG 6/16.
Radio: 97.3 FM, and in Spanish on 1210 AM.

Head-to-head: This is the first regular-season meeting. The Sounders visit Los Angeles on Aug. 15.

Statistical leaders: For LA, G: 5 Landon Donovan; A: 3 Donovan; Sh: 19 Donovan; SOG: 9 Donovan. For Seattle: G: 3 Fredy Montero; A: 3 Osvaldo Alonso; Sh: 18 Montero; SOG: 6 Montero.

Coach Sigi Schmid scouting report: “L.A. is an interesting team from the standpoint that they try and stay in every game. … They sort of play it somewhat conservatively. They don’t push out real high and pressure you in your end of the field, although they will do it once in a while. But they try and give themselves a chance to be in a game, to hang around, and to rely on the individual abilities of some very talented players like Landon Donovan and (Edson) Buddle and Eddie Lewis, looking for a set piece, looking for a bit of magic from some of those players. So we have to be careful. We can’t get lulled in and get caught with too many guys forward at the wrong times.”

Notes: Montero is ineligible after being assessed with a red card last weekend at Chicago. … L.A.’s best-known player – David Beckham – as is unavailable while on loan to AC Milan. … Donovan is the MLS scoring leader with five goals and three assists. … The Galaxy is unbeaten over its last five games. They scored twice in stoppage time last week to draw at Real Salt Lake. … Schmid coached the Galaxy from 1999-2004. L.A. coach Bruce Arena got his first coaching job at the University of Puget Sound. … The game is sold out.

Next: 5:30 p.m. Saturday, at FC Dallas, Pizza Hut Park, Frisco, Texas; KONG 6/16.

Two of the brighter stars in MLS will be missing tomorrow when the Galaxy visits the Sounders.

Seattle will be without Fredy Montero, and LA without David Beckham.

Those holes in the lineup were discussed yesterday:

From Sounders coach Sigi Schmid: “We’ve got different options there. Obviously we played Freddie Ljungberg there in the game against Toronto. Sebastien (Le Toux) played there in the Open Cup game, so he’s a possibility. We were concerned that Roger (Levesque) had injured himself on Tuesday, but he’s okay now again. And we saw Jarrod Smith went off a little early today, but we have to see how Jarrod Smith is. So those are four pretty good options, and we have (Sanna) Nyassi as well.”

However, Ljungberg didn't seem to think he was in the mix to move up. Here's his take: "I played that at Arsenal a lot of times if we were tracking a goal. If we needed a goal I stepped up and played as a second striker, but I would imagine that they maybe want to keep me in the position that I always play and learn to know the players at midfield. But yeah, personally I have absolutely no problem with it, I like to play there, but I would imagine I’ll stay in my midfield position to get everything right with the guys in midfield."

Meanwhile, the Galaxy hasn't had Beckham all season, so they're used to playing without him. But that doesn't mean it does disrupt things.

This from Bruce Arena (who I wrote about in today's paper): "It impacts us a little bit on the planning side and how we can build our roster throughout the year, the implications on the salary cap, the implications on the roster -- that's an impact. I think on the financial side, I believe it's viewed as a positive for the league with David returning in July. I know that when he returns and he's healthy he makes us a better team. Obviously, it's not a perfect situation for the team itself, having a player who's probably only going to be involved in 10 games this year."

Arena said Beckham will be back in time for the Galaxy's friendly against FC Barcelona on Aug. 1 ... and also for Seattle's visit to LA on Aug. 15.