San Jose Earthquakes will begin life without Matias Almeyda when they face Seattle Sounders on Saturday after a seven-game winless run to begin the MLS resulted in the 48-year-old being relieved of his duties.
The visitors have also had a shaky start to the MLS season, collecting seven points from their opening six matches.
Match preview
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San Jose currently sit rock bottom of the Western Conference after picking up just three points from their opening seven MLS matches this season.
Despite collecting a point last weekend against Nashville, a 2-2 draw was not enough to save Almeyda's job with his three-and-half year stay in San Jose brought to an end following the poor start to the season.
With Alex Covelo in interim charge, the hosts collected their first win of the season in midweek when they beat Bay Cities 5-0 in the US Open Cup.
The victory over a side that plays in the National Independent Soccer Association may have been expected, but it would have instilled belief into a team that has been bereft of confidence.
Although they are still searching for their first MLS win of the season, the Earthquakes have been a tough team to beat on home turf, with three of their four home matches in the MLS ending all square.
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Seattle Sounders may be in the final of the CONCACAF Champions League, but their start to the MLS season has been underwhelming, with their opening six games yielding just two victories.
At the same stage last season, the Sounders had yet to taste defeat with their 2021 campaign beginning with five victories and a draw, but they have struggled to replicate that form this season.
After opening the current campaign with back-to-back defeats, the Sounders looked to have turned a corner when they picked up seven points from the following three matches, but they were stopped in their tracks by Inter Miami last weekend.
On that occasion, Inter Miami edged out Seattle 1-0 thanks to a first-half strike from Robbie Robinson, leaving Brian Schmetzer's side in 11th position in the Western Conference.
Despite losing last time out, the Sounders have the chance to extend their unbeaten away run to five matches in all competitions, while a victory on Saturday would also represent back-to-back MLS away wins for the visitors.
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Team News
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Shea Salinas returned from injury to feature as a second-half substitute against Bay Cities in midweek, and he is expected to be on the bench on Saturday.
The hosts are also expected to be without Benjamin Kikanovic, who has missed the last four matches through injury, although they were boosted by the return of Nathan last weekend, and the Brazilian is set to feature in the backline.
Jeremy Ebobisse will continue to lead the line for the Earthquakes, and he will be in a confident mood after scoring five goals across his last three appearances.
As for the visitors, Yeimar Gomez Andrade has missed the last six matches due to a calf problem and the 29-year-old is expected to remain sidelined for Saturday's encounter.
Goalkeeper Stefan Frei dropped to the bench for the Inter Miami clash, but he could return to the starting lineup to replace Stefan Cleveland.
Seattle made a number of changes to the squad last weekend, as they rested a number of first-team regulars, and they may do the same on Saturday, with the visitors focusing on the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League, which will take place next week.
San Jose Earthquakes possible starting lineup:
Marcinkowski; Marie, Nathan, Calvo, Beason; Gregus, Yueill; Espinoza, Monteiro, Cowell; Ebobisse
Seattle Sounders possible starting lineup:
Frei; Rowe, Cissoko, Arreaga, Medranda; Atencio, Leyva; Vargas, Montero, Chu; Bruin
We say: San Jose Earthquakes 1-1 Seattle Sounders
We think that if Seattle Sounders rest key players once again that three points at the weekend may be out of their reach, and with the last three of San Jose's MLS home games ending all square, we think that another draw will be played out on Saturday.
Top tip
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 53.19%. A win for Seattle Sounders had a probability of 23.97% and a draw had a probability of 22.8%.
The most likely scoreline for a San Jose Earthquakes win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.77%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (9.15%) and 2-0 (8.41%). The likeliest Seattle Sounders win was 1-2 (6.18%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (10.63%). The actual scoreline of 4-3 was predicted with a 0.6% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that San Jose Earthquakes would win this match.
