Joseph Paintsil, Gabirel Pec fit for LA Galaxy in Sunday's El Trafico | OneFootball

The LA Galaxy will be getting a much-needed fitness boost ahead of Sunday evening's home El Trafico fixture against LAFC.

Both Joseph Paintsil and Gabriel Pec have been removed from the MLS Player Status Report for Matchday 14 and declared fit for the contest, in which the Galaxy will try to halt a miserable 13-match winless run with a win against their fiercest rival.

Each winger missed the Galaxy's last two games, a 7-0 rout at the New York Red Bulls and a 3-2 collapse at the Philadelphia Union.

Neither has been as effective as during last year's MLS Cup title campaign, with both suffering from the continued absence of Riqui Puig (ACL repair surgery). But they still make up half of the famous quartet that became the first foursome in MLS history to all reach double-digit league goals in a single league campaign.

Needed help for embattled Vanney

The match will be LA's first since announcing a somewhat controversial contract extension for manager Greg Vanney.

The former Toronto FC boss became only the fourth manager to win MLS Cups at multiple clubs after the Galaxy's triumph over the Red Bulls in last year's final. But the 13-match winless run to begin a season now stands alone as the longest in MLS history.

Whether Vanney should be the primary recipient of blame is somewhat debatable, however. With the salary rule-related departure of Dejan Joveljic and the somewhat puzzling trade of Mark Delgado to LAFC, plus the injury to the 2024 team MVP in Puig, Vanney has been managing a considerably less talented group even when Pec and Paintsil are healthy.

What isn't disputed is that the Galaxy will be sizable underdogs against an LAFC side beginning to find its form under Vanney's former U.S. men's national team colleague Steve Cherundolo.

The Black-and-Gold are unbeaten in six, and most recently hammered the Seattle Sounders 4-0 at home on Wednesday in arguably their best performance of the season.