On Saturday, the San Jose Earthquakes can keep their unbeaten run at PayPal Park this season intact when they take on Sporting Kansas City.
The Goonies let two points slip away on matchday seven, drawing the New York Red Bulls 1-1, while Sporting are one of only two Major League Soccer teams without a win this year, dropping a 1-0 decision in their previous outing at home to the Colorado Rapids.
Match preview
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It has been year after year of mediocre performances for the Quakes in regular-season play, but things are trending upward for a franchise that has not finished higher than eighth in the Western Conference table since 2018.
San Jose have 11 points after seven matches under the guidance of Luchi Gonzalez, their best start to a campaign since accumulating that exact total at this stage of the 2016 season.
Unfortunately, their match versus the Red Bulls made headlines for the wrong reasons as there was a lengthy second-half delay when Quakes striker Jeremy Ebobisse alleged that a racial slur was uttered, with New York's Dante Vanzeir claiming responsibility after the match and issuing a public apology.
Ebobisse later said that his team only continued playing because Vanzeir had reportedly told them it was not directed at anyone in particular, though it was the Red Bulls who ultimately took advantage of all that additional time, with Tom Barlow equalising in the 117th minute.
While the league is investigating what happened, the Earthquakes must shift their focus back to the campaign, where they have only suffered one defeat in their previous six fixtures and are 3-0-1 at PayPal Park.
So far in 2023, the Quakes have come together and also fallen apart in the latter stages of a match, scoring the second-most goals in MLS after the 75th minute (three) and also conceding three times beyond that point in a game, one shy of the most in the league this year.
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Their underlying numbers show progression, but at the end of the day, all that matters is the result, and those have not gone the way of Kansas City so far.
KC are second in the league regarding shots (107) and shots on target (38), while also second in key passes (77), but two goals after seven matches will not cut it.
Peter Vermes has been through the ups and downs that come with coaching in Major League Soccer, and the former American international will manage his 445th career regular-season fixture this weekend, moving him past Dominic Kinnear into third all-time in this league behind Bruce Arena (529) and Sigi Schmid (548).
Sporting have failed to find the back of the net in three of their four away matches this season but have not conceded on two occasions.
They have been in a winning position twice this year and failed to claim a point on each occasion, most recently allowing four unanswered goals to the Seattle Sounders last month, while they went into the interval away to Dallas up 1-0, only to fall 2-1 when the final whistle blew.
Since the 2016 regular season, SKC have only dropped one match against the Goonies at PayPal Park, drawing them 1-1 in this exact fixture a year ago.
Team News
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Carlos Gruezo returned to the San Jose lineup after sustaining a prior hamstring strain, Daniel remains out with a sore thigh, Niko Tsakiris has an adductor issue and Nathan is recovering from his ACL surgery.
Cristian Espinoza has scored the last four goals of the season for the Quakes, including the only one in their draw versus the Red Bulls, as he ranks second in MLS for shots on target (nine) and chances created (22).
Rodrigues is second in the league for interceptions (18), Paul Marie sits fifth in tackles won (15), while Jonathan Mensah and Jackson Yueill are the only players on the team to have featured in all 630 minutes this season.
Gadi Kinda and Logan Ndenbe are questionable for Kansas City with a knee and hamstring issues, respectively, Kayden Pierre and Tim Leibold are not available because of sore hamstrings, Nemanja Radoja remains sidelined because of a quad strain and Kortne Ford will not be ready as he continues to recover from his Achilles surgery.
Tim Melia is 25 minutes shy of reaching 20,000 in his regular-season MLS career, Roger Espinoza has a chance to start his 300th match in league competitions (regular season, playoffs and MLS is Back Tournament), while Remi Walter has made 49 straight starts in the regular season, the third-longest active streak among MLS field players behind Jakob Glesnes (80) and Darlington Nagbe (74).
Daniel Salloi and Johnny Russell each need one goal to reach 50 for SKC in all competitions, while Khiry Shelton has a chance to make his 100th career start this weekend.
San Jose Earthquakes possible starting lineup:
Marcinkowski; Akapo, Mensah, Rodrigues, Marie; Yueill, Gruezo, Monteiro; Espinoza, Cowell, Ebobisse
Sporting Kansas City possible starting lineup:
Melia; Zusi, Fontas, Castellanos, Voloder; Hernandez, Walter, Duke; Russell, Pulido, Salloi
We say: San Jose Earthquakes 1-0 Sporting Kansas City
Solid team unity and some quality up front can take you a long way, and the Quakes look much improved in virtually every aspect of their game early on.
Kansas City have put together some good performances at times but cannot seem to find solutions to their goalscoring woes, which is why we are tipping the Quakes to claim a narrow victory.
How to watch
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Top tip
Joel Lefevre
