San Jose Earthquakes vs. Seattle Sounders: Preview and How to Watch
After picking up a draw against Atlanta United at home, the Seattle Sounders travel to San Jose to take on the San Jose Earthquakes.
Over the past two years, the San Jose Earthquakes have held the lead in the series against the Seattle Sounders, with two wins, two draws and one loss. Though both teams have had a slower start to the season, the Seattle Sounders have gone undefeated in their last three games and will hope to keep that going against a San Jose side that has are going on two consecutive losses. On the other hand, the Earthquakes will look to get back to winning ways after winning the first two games of the season and then failing to get a result since.
San Jose Earthquakes
As stated earlier, the Earthquakes are on a poor run of form, losing their last two games in a row away to Sporting Kansas City and New York City. But now, coming back home to Avaya Stadium, San Jose looks to pick up their form again.
The Earthquakes started off the season flying, picking up two wins in their first two games of the season. Both of these games, against the Montreal Impact and the Vancouver Whitecaps, were at home and now that the Earthquakes are returning home after two losses away, the Quakes will look to stay 100% at Avaya Stadium.
Defensively San Jose will have to fill the role of Victor Bernardez who will be out due to suspension thanks to the straight red card he picked up against NYCFC. Bernardez has started every match so far for the Quakes and his absence will be missed for sure. He will most likely be replaced by Andres Imperiale who made ten starts last year but has yet to make an appearance for the Earthquakes so far this season. When Imperiale was in the starting XI, San Jose went 2-4-4. Though they may not have the best record when Imperiale starts, he is not the worst person to take Bernardez’ spot.
Seattle Sounders
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The Seattle Sounders are coming off a 0-0 tie at home against expansion side Atlanta United. Even though the backline for Seattle was very much a second string option, three players not being typically identified in Seattle’s best XI, the Sounders were able to hold a Josef Martinez-less attack off for 90 minutes, with Almiron coming in as a sub in the second half.
Seattle should be close to their first choice starting XI, with Roman Torres and Clint Dempsey fully recovered from international duty and Chad Marshall healthy following an illness that kept him out of the Atlanta match. Even with Brad Evans still out with an injury, their backline will be much closer to a first choice backline and with the help of Ozzie Alonso and in-form Cristian Roldan, Seattle’s backline will be hard to beat.
Clint Dempsey has also found his form again. He scored four goals in two games for the USMNT and when he came on as a sub against Atlanta, Dempsey changed the way Seattle attacked, setting up chances and putting one off the post himself. Overall Dempsey’s return and growth in confidence can only be an encouraging sign for Sounders fans.
Next: MLS Multiplex Staff Predictions – Week 6
How to Watch
When: Saturday, April 8, 2017, 10:30pm EST (7:30 PST)
Where: San Jose, California
Watch: Q-13 Fox, CSN Plus, MLS Live