The Seattle Sounders will try to avoid their first losing streak of the season when they host the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday from Lumen Field.
The Rave Green fell 3-1 to Sporting Kansas City last weekend, while San Jose have drawn four consecutive matches following a 1-1 tie last Saturday versus the Houston Dynamo.
Match preview
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After setting an MLS record for the best opening to a regular season (13 games without a defeat), the reigning Western Conference champions have shown that they are human after all, losing two of their last three fixtures.
Injuries and players missing because of international duty appear to have finally taken a toll on this team, who have fallen into second place in the Supporters' Shield race, just one point behind the New England Revolution.
Last Saturday, Brian Schmetzer had two teenagers in the starting 11, which is three fewer than he had in their previous fixture against Austin, and they held their own, out shooting KC 13-7 and firing six shots on target.
The emotional high that they got from that 1-0 win over Austin might have been too difficult to sustain against a Kansas City side, who were clinical in front of goal, scoring with three of their four shots on target.
Playing a team like San Jose might be just what they need right now, as they are unbeaten in their previous 13 matches against the Quakes, including a 1-0 victory earlier this year.
Schmetzer could be content with giving some of his injured veterans some more time to heal, seeing as they wrap up their homestand with two games against sides near the bottom of the standings in San Jose and Dallas.
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The Earthquakes continue to earn points, but those results have done little to help them move up the highly competitive Western Conference table.
Matias Almeyda has seen his side earn play better over the past few weeks, although they still cannot seem to earn three points, going without a win now in 11 straight games.
Every time they look like winning, they seem to lose their focus, and that has cost them lately, conceding in injury time to the Wizards and giving up a second-half lead to draw the Colorado Rapids.
The one area of their game that has made a noticeable improvement this month is how well they have buckled down defensively, allowing only five goals in July after conceding eight in only three games in June.
Despite all of that, they are only a couple of wins away from getting back into the playoff picture, and they have earned points against three of the top seven teams in the west over their last four fixtures.
The Goonies will be feeling a lot better about their chances to earn a result away from home in this game, earning a draw in their last three encounters on the road and notching a goal each time after they went scoreless in three straight away games before that stretch.
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Team News
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The Sounders are still missing starting keeper Stefan Frei with a left knee sprain/blood clot, Jordan Morris has an ACL injury, Jordy Delem has a right ACL tear, Nicolas Lodeiro is still recovering from right knee surgery, while Will Bruin is out after undergoing right knee meniscus surgery and Nouhou Tolo has a left abductor strain.
Alex Roldan could be available for this one after El Salvador were eliminated from the Gold Cup, but Cristian Roldan is still with the United States, who are in the semi-finals.
Stefan Cleveland returned as the starting keeper against KC, replacing Spencer Richey, while teenagers Danny Leyva and Josh Atencio started in midfield alongside Joao Paulo.
San Jose have also had their share of injury problems lately, as Matt Bersano and Tommy Thompson have left knee issues and Benji Kikanovic has a right knee problem.
Jackson Yueill is with the US at the Gold Cup, while Judson is eligible to return after being suspended against the Dynamo, but Carlos Fierro will have to sit this one out after earning a late red card last Saturday.
Luciano Abecasis and Eric Remedi started in midfield last weekend instead of the suspended Judson and Marcos Lopez.
Seattle Sounders possible starting lineup:
Cleveland; Rowe, Gomez, Arreaga, Cissoko, Smith; Paulo, A. Roldan, Atencio; Ruidiaz, Montero
San Jose Earthquakes possible starting lineup:
Marcinkowski; Nathan, Alanis, Beason; Marie, Jungwirth, Remedi, Salinas; J. Lopez, Wondolowski, Espinoza
We say: Seattle Sounders 1-1 San Jose Earthquakes
The Sounders always seem to respond well following a defeat, but they have struggled to score goals lately, and they looked vulnerable defensively last weekend for the first time all season.
San Jose have been unlucky to not come away with a win over the past few weeks, but they have started to make great strides on the back end and on the road, while also earning points against some solid MLS sides.
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 Seattle Sounders win with a probability of 62.96%. A draw had a probability of 21% and a win for San Jose Earthquakes had a probability of 16.03%.
The most likely scoreline for a Seattle Sounders win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.3%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (11.18%) and 2-1 (9.88%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (9.99%), while for a San Jose Earthquakes win it was 0-1 (5.04%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with a 5% likelihood.
