The second round of the matches in the 2025 Major League Soccer season sees Sporting Kansas City and the San Jose Earthquakes lock horns at the Children's Mercy Park on Saturday.
Both teams got off to contrasting starts last time out as the away side cruised to an emphatic victory, while the hosts were on the receiving end of a narrow defeat.
Match preview
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Having finished bottom but one in the Western Conference standings in the 2024 campaign, Sporting Kansas City could really have done with a positive start to proceedings this term but came away empty-handed in their curtain-raiser against Austin FC.
Osman Bukari's opener 14 minutes from the end of regulation time was enough to put Peter Vermes's men to the sword and reawaken the sinking feeling of defeat that was so rampant in Missouri last time out.
With little time to dwell on their league disappointment, the Wizards headed to the Chase Center on Wednesday to face off against Inter Miami in the second leg of their CONCACAF Champions Cup tie, where they were beaten 3-1 to wrap up a 4-1 aggregate defeat.
Losing three straight matches across all competitions is far from an ideal start to a new season, but Sporting Kansas City must now rally to get themselves back on track, starting with Saturday's affair.
With five victories from the most recent six meetings against the visitors, the home side have the historical advantage in this fixture and will hope that it translates into all three points come the end of the 90 minutes this weekend.
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Managing just 21 points from their 34 matches, the San Jose Earthquakes finished last season with comfortably the worst record not only in the Western Conference but in the entire MLS as a whole.
A run of just two wins from their six warm-up outings did little to indicate a change in fortune for Bruce Arena's men, who, however, secured the standout result of matchday one by thrashing Real Salt Lake 4-0 at PayPal Park on Saturday.
After missing large spells of 2024 through injury, Jamar Ricketts had a personal moment to savour as he broke the deadlock for his side before Rodrigues, Ousseni Bouda and Vitor Costa all netted in the final 20 minutes to seal the deal.
San Jose Earthquakes have not come out on top in consecutive Major League Soccer outings since May 2024, when they beat Los Angeles FC and the Colorado Rapids 3-1 and 3-2 respectively seven days apart.
A victory in Saturday's affair would see the away side end the aforementioned streak and make it six points from a possible six to maintain their perfect start, so we expect the Quakes to be fully up for the challenge.
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Team News
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Sporting Kansas City's Khiry Shelton is not available to feature this weekend due to a torn hamstring which will rule him out for the opening exchanges of the season.
Jansen Miller is also expected to remain on the sidelines for the home side through a back injury but not for long as he closes in on a return to full fitness.
Benjamin Kikanovic has been out of action for over five months now due to an issue with his lower body, and there is no sign yet of an impending comeback for the 25-year-old.
Having reached double digits for assists in each of his last three seasons, Cristian Espinoza put on another playmaking clinic against Real Salt Lake with three assists.
Sporting Kansas City possible starting lineup:
Pulskamp; Ndenbe, Voloder, Fernandez, Davis; Rodriguez, Bartlett, Radoja; Thommy, Agada, Salloi
San Jose Earthquakes possible starting lineup:
Daniel; Rodrigues, Romney, Valdez; Espinoza, Leroux, Lopez, Harkes, Ricketts; Arango, Martinez
We say: Sporting Kansas City 1-2 San Jose Earthquakes
This fixture has delivered goals on several occasions in the past, and we expect this weekend's clash to be no different.
That said, the San Jose Earthquakes will be the more confident of the two teams heading into this one, so we can see them just about doing enough to get the job done.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Adepoju Marvellous
