The San Jose Earthquakes will host the Vancouver Whitecaps in their home opener at PayPal Park on Saturday, with each side searching for their first points of the new MLS campaign.
They each squandered second-half leads in their first match of 2023 last weekend with the Quakes losing 2-1 to Atlanta United, while the Caps were beaten by that same score versus Real Salt Lake.
Match preview
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For the fifth consecutive season, the Goonies failed to win their opening match of the new campaign, though there were plenty of encouraging signs throughout their game in Atlanta.
Making his coaching debut with the Quakes, Luchi Gonzalez saw his side control most of their match last Saturday, operating in an effective mid-to-low block system, but they crumbled at the most inopportune moment, conceding two injury-time goals.
That extended their winless run on the road in regular season play to eight matches dating back to the previous campaign, though they ended 2022 with a solid string of results at home, earning at least a point in four of their final five encounters at PayPal Park.
Three of those points came against the Whitecaps, who the Quakes have not lost a home match against in five successive fixtures, posting two clean sheets over that stretch, including a 2-0 triumph last season.
The Quakes were a mess defensively in 2022, conceding the most goals in the Western Conference (69), though two of their three shutouts occurred at home.
They ended the 2022 regular season with points in three of their final four matches against Western Conference opponents, while they also went unbeaten versus sides from Canada.
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Despite a solid start last Saturday Vancouver could not put their match to bed with Claret and Cobalt and were made to pay in the second half.
It was the first time since September of last year that Vancouver had lost a home fixture when scoring first, while it also ended a three-game winning streak for them at BC Place Stadium.
That result will do little to silence those who have criticized their lack of finish in the attacking third, as Vancouver had seven shots on target versus RSL but squandered numerous opportunities.
The Caps have been notoriously slow starters for a while now, having lost their regular-season opener in four of the last five years.
Poor starts are one of many things which prevented Vanni Sartini's men from making the postseason in 2022, while they struggled to get results against weaker opponents, with more than half of their defeats last year coming against non-playoff teams (eight of 15).
They have not beaten the Quakes away from home since 2018, while the Caps have not won a regular season encounter in California since defeating the Los Angeles Galaxy 1-0 in their opening road fixture of 2020.
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Team News
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Niko Tsakiris will not be available for San Jose due to an adductor strain, Nathan is recovering from ACL surgery, Judson has a knee injury and Cruz Medina missed their season opener after being called up to the US under-17 team, which lost the CONCACAF Final to Mexico 2-1 on Sunday.
Jeremy Ebobisse had the only goal for San Jose in their first encounter of the year, the 45th of his MLS career, Cristian Espinoza registered his 45th career assist on that strike and Rodrigues collected his first assist as a Quake since joining them on loan from Brazilian side Gremio.
We saw several new faces for San Jose in their opening match, with Daniel and Carlos Akapo making their Major League Soccer debuts, while Jonathan Mensah, Carlos Gruezo and former Whitecaps midfielder Michael Baldisimo all featured with the Goonies for the first time.
Vancouver are without Cristian Gutierrez due to IT band tightness, while Deiber Caicedo sat out of their opening encounter as he continues to recover from his right knee meniscus surgery.
Javain Brown put Vancouver in front last Saturday, with the Jamaican scoring just his second-ever goal in MLS off a nice corner kick from Julian Gressel, while Andres Cubas registered four tackles and won possession eight times.
Yohei Takaoka played well in his Caps debut last weekend, stopping five of the seven shots that he faced, while Sergio Cordova also featured for the first time in a Vancouver uniform, replacing Gressel for the final 14 minutes plus stoppage time.
San Jose Earthquakes possible starting lineup:
Daniel; Marie, Mensah, Rodrigues, Trauco; Yueill, Baldisimo; Espinoza, Monteiro, Cowell; Ebobisse
Vancouver Whitecaps possible starting lineup:
Takaoka; Veselinovic, Blackmon, Martins; Brown, Gressel, Cubas, Schopf; Vite, Gauld; White
We say: San Jose Earthquakes 3-2 Vancouver Whitecaps
Given the low expectations of a rebuilding Earthquakes team, San Jose should feel much more encouraged by their defeat than Vancouver.
The Caps have been consistently poor away from home, winning a total of three matches or fewer in their previous four regular seasons, and as good as they are at creating chances, Vancouver have not shown the capability of closing down space against their opponents.
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Top tip
Joel Lefevre
