Round five of the 2025 Major League Soccer season sees two sides who have made mixed starts to life this term lock horns at the Bank of America Stadium when Charlotte FC play host to the San Jose Earthquakes on Sunday.
This weekend's encounter will be the first competitive meeting between the teams, whose only prior clash came in a pre-season clash back in February 2024.
Match preview
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Having snatched a point late on in their curtain-raiser against the Seattle Sounders, Charlotte FC had little problem dispatching Atlanta United thanks to a 2-0 triumph at the beginning of March.
One week after suffering their first defeat of the year against Inter Miami, Dean Smith's men wasted no time getting themselves back to winning ways as they ran out comfortable 2-0 victors against FC Cincinnati in Sunday's encounter.
A tight first half in North Carolina had the Crown in need of some inspiration, which was provided by quickfire goals from Liel Abada and Patrick Agyemang within five minutes of the start of the second 45 minutes.
It is now seven points from a possible 12 for Charlotte, who undoubtedly have big aspirations for themselves following their acquisition of Wilfried Zaha in one of the biggest moves of the MLS January window.
Sunday's hosts have flown out of the blocks in front of their fans with two wins from a possible two and will be confident of extending that run by securing all three points this weekend before heading to Dick's Sporting Goods Park to take on the Colorado Rapids in their final outing of the month.
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Off the back of two consecutive wins against Real Salt Lake and Sporting Kansas City to get their campaign off to a bright start, the San Jose Earthquakes have seen their momentum take a significant hit after defeats to Minnesota United and, most recently, the Colorado Rapids.
Both of the aforementioned defeats came via only a one-goal margin as Bruce Arena's men were on the wrong end of a narrow defeat for the second game running on Sunday morning last time out.
The Goonies cancelled out Cole Bassett's 38th-minute opener through Cristian Arango on the stroke of half time, only for Calvin Harris to net the winner 19 minutes from time.
As a result of their recent slump, the Goonies have dropped down to sixth in the Western Conference heading into a daunting run of matches which sees them take on the Seattle Sounders, DC United and Los Angeles FC after Sunday's affair.
This weekend's visitors claimed a 2-1 in their only away encounter of the season so far against Sporting Kansas and now have the opportunity to win consecutive league matches away from home for the first time in over a year.
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Team News
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In addition to Tim Ream, both goalscorers for Charlotte against Cincinnati, Liel Abada and Patrick Agyemang, are unavailable for Sunday due to respective international commitments.
Brandon Cambridge and Jahlane Forbes are also ruled out through respective hamstring problems, while fellow American Nimfasha Berchimas is out with a foot issue.
Josef Martinez and Niko Tsakiris are the only San Jose players currently on international duty, but Benjamin Kikanovic and Hernan Lopez will both play no part this weekend due to injury.
Thirty-year-old forward Cristian Arango has found the back of the net in three of his last five matches for the away side, making him one to keep an eye on here.
Charlotte FC possible starting lineup:
Kahlina; Tuiloma, Privett, Malanda, Byrne; Biel, Westwood, Bronico; Vargas, Toklomati, Zaha
San Jose Earthquakes possible starting lineup:
Daniel; Wilson, Romney, Lima; Espinoza, Leroux, Arango, Harkes, Ricketts; Bouda, Pellegrino
We say: Charlotte FC 3-1 San Jose Earthquakes
Charlotte are currently on a 10-game winning run on home turf across all competitions, and given San Jose's deficiencies on the road, we fully expect the home side to come away with maximum points when all is said and done.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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