Sporting Kansas City can extend their current winning streak to four games with a victory on Wednesday against the San Jose Earthquakes from Children's Mercy Park.
The Wizards have not played since the first weekend in July when they beat the Los Angeles Galaxy 2-0, while the Quakes are winless in their last nine fixtures following a 1-1 draw with the Colorado Rapids.
Match preview
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Peter Vermes hopes that a 17-day break will not impact the momentum that his side have built, winning three in a row versus three teams currently in the top five of the Western Conference standings in the Galaxy, Los Angeles FC and the Rapids.
Next to the Seattle Sounders, KC may be the most well-rounded team in MLS, currently leading the league in goals (24), while defensively, they have only conceded multiple goals in a single game once in the entire 2021 campaign.
The last time this team had such a long break in between games, they struggled to find their mark in the final third, firing 32 shots versus Austin FC but only scoring once in a 1-1 draw.
Staying sharp and focused this time out should not be a problem, seeing as they are only three points behind the Sounders for the Supporters' Shield, and they travel to Seattle next Sunday, so they will want to keep pace with the Western Conference leaders in the table.
KC will be missing some key pieces to their squad on Wednesday, but this side have been getting solid contributions from their entire roster, and they will need that depth to show up against a team in San Jose who are desperate for a victory.
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It has been a tough couple of months for the San Jose Earthquakes after such a promising start to this campaign, where they won three of their first four games.
Not much has gone right since their 2-1 win at Real Salt Lake back on May 7; their goal scoring has dried up, they have conceded plenty of goals, and they are near the bottom of the Western Conference standings with 12 points, just one point above last-place Dallas.
Matias Almeyda has at least seen his team earn some points over the past couple of weeks, drawing two playoff sides in the Colorado Rapids and Minnesota United, both on the road.
San Jose have struggled against KC at Children's Mercy Park, going winless in their last four fixtures, conceding nine goals over that stretch.
As bad as things have been for this team at times, they have been far more clinical in front of goal lately, scoring on one of their two targeted efforts over the weekend and finding the back of the net on two of their three shots on goal against Minnesota.
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Team News
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The Wizards will be missing midfielder Gianluca Busio and Alan Pulido, who are with the United States and Mexico at the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Remi Walter has a knee injury, Jaylin Lindsey is nursing a hamstring problem and Gadi Kinda is suffering from a foot injury.
Expect to see veteran Graham Zusi start on defence for a second consecutive game instead of the injured Lindsey, while French defender Nicolas Isimat-Mirin made his first appearance of the season back on July 4 as a substitute.
Quakes midfielder Jackson Yueill is with the US national team at the Gold Cup, while Matt Bersano and Tommy Thompson have left knee injuries, Carlos Fierro is questionable with an upper left leg injury and Judson could be a game-time decision with a lower back issue.
Almeyda made three changes to the starting 11 versus the Rapids, bringing in Marcos Lopez to form a back five, while Yueill was on international duty and Benji Kikanovic was the lone striker with Judson sitting out.
Striker Cade Cowell became the first Earthquakes player in MLS to record at least four goals and four assists this season as he leads the team in both categories, while Javier Lopez scored on Saturday for the first time in six games.
Sporting Kansas City possible starting lineup:
Melia; Martins, Fontas, llie, Zusi; Hernandez, Barber, R. Espinoza; Salloi, Shelton, Russell
San Jose Earthquakes possible starting lineup:
Marcinkowski; M. Lopez, Beason, Marie, Nathan; Cowell, J. Lopez, Haji, Remedi; Kikanovic, Wondolowski
We say: Sporting Kansas City 2-0 San Jose Earthquakes
Even without some key additions to their midfield and attack, KC have tremendous depth at every position and have shown consistency all year, plus they are unbeaten at home in 2021.
The Quakes have been able to earn some results away from home lately, but they still tend to get burned on the counter, conceding 23 goals so far this year, the most in the Western Conference.
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 Sporting Kansas City win with a probability of 63.07%. A draw had a probability of 19.2% and a win for San Jose Earthquakes had a probability of 17.71%.
The most likely scoreline for a Sporting Kansas City win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.72%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (8.63%) and 1-0 (7.6%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (8.56%), while for a San Jose Earthquakes win it was 1-2 (4.83%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with an 8.6% likelihood.
