Seattle Sounders and San Jose Earthquakes square off in MLS on Wednesday evening as they look to boost their respective positions in the Western Conference.
At a time when the home side sit at the top of the standings, the visitors are in fifth, seven points adrift of the pacesetters.
Match preview
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Having won six of their opening nine league matches, Seattle Sounders would have expected to kick on towards the midway point of the season and cement first place.
Instead, three defeats in five outings have led to the chasing pack closing the gap, the Sounders just three points ahead of fourth position.
To their credit, Brian Schmetzer's side responded with a 1-0 victory over New York Red Bulls last time out, Jordan Morris's ninth strike of the season proving to be the difference.
However, at a time when their most recent three triumphs have come by a 1-0 scoreline, the Sounders face being without Morris through injury for the foreseeable future.
That result ended a two-game losing streak on home territory, but they now face opponents who possess one of the worst away records in this season's MLS.
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San Jose Earthquakes have accumulated just two points from seven fixtures on their travels this season, losing their last two such matches.
Successive 2-1 defeats were posted at Los Angeles Galaxy and Los Angeles FC before they bounced back with a credible 1-1 draw at home to fourth-placed Dallas last time out.
Nevertheless, posting just one win in seven matches does not make good reading for Luchi Gonzalez as they bid to remain in the hunt for the top four and better.
On a positive note, the Earthquakes have scored in each of their last nine MLS games, even though they have still conceded one goal more at the other end of the pitch.
Team News
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With Morris missing due to a groin injury, Dylan Teves is seemingly in line to replace the top goalscorer on the right flank.
The Sounders are also missing Joao Paulo, who was dismissed for two yellow cards versus New York Red Bulls, and Joshua Atencio could be chosen in his spot.
San Jose Earthquakes have suspension issues due to the sending off of Judson, but that red card came after he had been introduced as a substitute.
Unless Tommy Thompson comes in at right-back for just his second start of the season, the rest of the time named by Gonzalez could stay the same.
Seattle Sounders possible starting lineup:
Frei; Roldan, Andrade, Ragen, Baker; Atencio, Rusnak; Teves, Lodeiro, Chu; Heber
San Jose Earthquakes possible starting lineup:
Daniel; Thompson, Rodrigues, Beason, Trauco; Yueill, Gruezo, Monteiro; Espinoza, Ebobisse, Kikanovic
We say: Seattle Sounders 2-1 San Jose Earthquakes
With both teams having been inconsistent of late, we are expecting a competitive fixture to play out at Lumen Field. Nevertheless, we cannot ignore the Sounders' superior league position and home advantage, leading to us to predict a narrow victory by the odd goal in three.
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Top tip
Darren Plant
