Up next for Chivas USA: Saturday vs. Columbus

Chivas USA tonight

VS. COLUMBUS

When: 7:30.

Where: Home Depot Center.

On the air: None.

Records: Season opener.

Record vs. Crew (2012): 0-1.

Update: Chivas USA begins a new era with one certainty: It can’t be any worse than the old era. The team failed to win any of its final 14 games last season, when its average home attendance fell to a league and franchise low of 13,056. So new ownership cleaned house, remade the roster and handed the team over to former Mexican League coach Jose Luis Sanchez Sola, who guided Chivas through an unbeaten preseason. Chivas scored just 24 times in 34 games last season, the second-lowest total in MLS history, but the team will probably go heavy in the midfield this season, employing a 3-5-2 formation to funnel the ball to talented strikers Juan Agudelo, Jose Correa and Giovani Casillas — all younger than 21 years old. Look for Chivas to be both creative and productive on offense. Among the few returning players from last season is keeper — and new captain — Dan Kennedy, voted the league’s second-best goalkeeper last year.

— Kevin Baxter