MLS: Seattle Sounders vs. San Jose Earthquakes Preview, Odds, News, Prediction

The Seattle Sounders are looking to bounce back following the latest defeat, and to do so, they will have to beat San Jose Earthquakes. Let’s face it, the task is not simple at all, especially when having in mind all the absent players they have. But that’s life, and we are more than positive that Seattle’s head coach, Brian Schmetzer, won’t take that as an alibi in case of a failure. On the other side, the Quakes are in an odd position with four consecutive draws. But what is even worse is that they haven’t won since early May.

Preview

Seattle Sounders (-166) lost two in the last three games, ruining the best opening of one MLS season ever. After 13 consecutive matches without a defeat (8 wins and 5 losses), Seattle’s form dropped severely, which was expected in a way. They are dealing with numerous problems, and that was bound to impact their game at some point.

During this midweek, the Sounders lost at home to Sporting Kansas City, 1-3. With the result being 1-2 for the guests, Seattle had a few chances, but failed to use them, which later came back like a boomerang as SKC sealed the win with a third score.

That match was the first one with over 2.5 goals after four straight in which we haven’t seen such high efficiency and the first after three consecutive with both teams scoring.

San Jose Earthquakes (+450) haven’t won in 11 games now, and their stretch goes back to May 8, once they managed to beat Real Salt Lake on the road, 1-2. Since then, Matias Almeyda’s team posted six losses and five draws, four of them in a row.

Quakes played 2-2 with Minnesota United away from home, then recorded two 1-1 matches against Colorado Rapids and Sporting Kansas City, also away from San Jose. The most recent Earthquakes match was against Houston Dynamo in California, and it too ended 1-1.

As you saw, their most recent five games were with both teams to score, and three were with a moderate efficiency, 2 or 3 goals.

Latest News

Seattle’s goalkeeper, Stefan Frei, is out because of an injury, the same as Jordan Morris, Jorgy Delen, Nicolas Lodeiro, Will Bruin, and Nouhou Tolo. But these guys were out for a while now. Alex Roland could be back from Gold Cup, but his brother, Cristian, won’t.

Matt Bersano and Tommy Thompson, and Benji Kikanovic are all out for the guests due to knee injuries, while Jackson Yueill is with the US team at the Gold Cup. Carlos Fierro is suspended because of a red card.

Head to Head Games

These two sides met the last time in May, and the Sounders posted a 0-1 win on the road. The most recent game in Seattle was in November 2020, and the hosts claimed it 4-1.

By the way, the Quakes don’t have a win in the previous 11 head-to-head matches against this rival.

Prediction

This should be an interesting clash, with both sides going for the win. Seattle because it plays at home, while on the other side, the Quakes have no pressure, and they will try to beat the odds and finally snap the negative trend. Our pick here is both teams to score, with the odds on that at -166.

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