Still in search of their first win of the season, San Jose Earthquakes welcome Nashville SC to the Earthquakes Stadium on Saturday.
On the other hand, the away side set out to record a third consecutive victory and continue their surge up the league table.
Match preview
© Reuters
San Jose came away empty-handed from a thrilling 4-3 contest against Houston Dynamo on Sunday when the teams faced off at the PNC Stadium.
Goals from Sebastian Ferreira and Darwin Quintero cancelled out a Jeremy Ebobisse brace to ensure parity going into the break, before Teenage Hadebe and the aforementioned Ferreira netted in the second half, rendering Tommy Thompson's strike inconsequential.
Matias Almeyda's men sit bottom of the Western Conference and are in need of a pick-me-up having amassed just two points from six games so far.
The Goonies now prepare for a first-ever meeting against Nashville since the latter's addition to the MLS back in 2020.
Following stalemates in their last two home outings, Saturday's hosts will be keen to go one better this time around and get their season up and running.
Nashville picked up back to back wins for the first time this term courtesy of a 2-1 triumph over Sporting Kansas City at the Children's Mercy Park on Sunday.
Gary Smith's men went behind to Remi Walter's 25th-minute opener before hitting back through goals from David Romney and Charles Sapong.
As a result, Nashville have now moved up to seventh place in the Western Conference off the back of a poor start to the campaign.
With their new home ground set to be opened next month, Saturday's visitors will be looking to continue their good form on the road as they seek to close out a run of eight straight away games on a high.
- L
- D
- L
- L
- D
- L
- W
- D
- L
- L
- W
- W
Team News
Shea Salinas is yet to recover from a long-term knee problem, and the midfielder is ruled out for the home side.
San Jose will also be without the services of Nathan due to a torn meniscus which the Brazilian suffered back in October.
George Asomani continues to nurse a hip injury, with the 23-year-old's return to action still a long way off.
Nashville's Teal Bunbury hobbled off with a hamstring problem two weeks ago in a 2-1 defeat against Real Salt Lake.
Charles Sapong is one to look out for in this one having scored in two of his last three starts away from home.
San Jose Earthquakes possible starting lineup:
Marcinkowski; Lopez, Calvo, Beason, Marie; Yueill, Gregus; Espinoza, Monteiro, Cowell; Ebobisse
Nashville SC possible starting lineup:
Willis; Romney, Zimmerman, Maher; Washington, Muyl, Davis, Anunga; Leal, Mukhtar, Sapong
We say: San Jose Earthquakes 1-2 Nashville SC
San Jose are still yet to find their feet this term, and Nashville will be looking to heap more misery on them. We fancy the visitors to narrowly come away with the victory at the end of the 90 minutes.
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a San Jose Earthquakes win with a probability of 45.28%. A win for Nashville SC had a probability of 29.2% and a draw had a probability of 25.5%.
The most likely scoreline for a San Jose Earthquakes win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.44%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.16%) and 2-0 (7.89%). The likeliest Nashville SC win was 0-1 (8.03%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.12%). The actual scoreline of 2-2 was predicted with a 5.3% likelihood.
