Two sides separated by one point and four places in the MLS Western Conference standings will clash when the Colorado Rapids travel to take on San Jose Earthquakes at the PayPal Park on Saturday night.
Coming off the back of a 1-0 loss to Minnesota United, the hosts will be seeking an instant return to winning ways, while Colorado will put their unbeaten record on the line in their search for a second win of the season.
Match preview
Having endured a difficult 2024 season, San Jose Earthquakes hit the ground running with consecutive victories in their first two fixtures of the 2025 campaign.
In their opening fixture, the Quakes romped to a 4-0 win over Real Salt Lake, followed by a 2-1 triumph over Sporting Kansas City, to top the Western Conference standings with six points after two rounds of matches.
However, their impressive start to the season was dealt a blow when they succumbed to a 1-0 loss to Minnesota United last time out.
That loss saw Bruce Arena's side give up their position at the top of the standings, and they currently sit third in the table, three points and two places adrift of Vancouver Whitecaps, who are dictating the pace.
Although it is still early days, the hosts have improved their defensive record by averaging 0.66 goals conceded per match so far, a record which is a far cry from the 2.28 per match from 78 shipped in the past season.
Colorado had one of the most lethal attacks in the 2024 campaign, plundering 61 goals, and having scored four in their last two fixtures, the visitors will be eager to pit their attacking prowess against San Jose's rejuvenated backline.
Despite not enjoying the best start to the new campaign, the visitors remain unbeaten after three rounds of matches - a run which includes two draws and a win, with the victory recorded in their last outing against Austin FC at Q2 Stadium.
That result snapped a run of eight successive games without a win in MLS, and the victory catapulted Chris Armas's team to seventh in the Western Conference table with five points, one behind Saturday's hosts.
Following their first victory of the new season, the visitors will back themselves to claim the scalp of the home side for a second win of the season, and back-to-back wins on the road for the first time since 2021.
A win for the visitors will see them leapfrog the hosts, and they can draw some inspiration from their last visit to the PayPal Park, when they ran out 3-0 winners in April.
Team News
Benjamin Kikanovic has been sidelined with a leg injury since September, hence, he will not be available for selection on Saturday.
There are doubts on the availability of Nick Fernandez, who joined the Quakes from Chicago Fire last month.
Other than those two absentees, Arena has almost a fully fit squad, but he is likely to field the same starting XI at the weekend.
For the visitors, Jackson Travis, Reggie Canon and Darren Yapi are still sidelined with various injuries and are out of contention for Saturday's fixture.
They are joined on the treatment table by young American defender Sam Vines, who has been injured since November.
Twenty-three-year-old midfielder Theodore Ku-DiPietro is yet to feature in the current campaign, after injuring his shoulder in October, and he is not expected to be part of the travelling squad.
San Jose Earthquakes possible starting lineup:
Daniel; Romney, Wilson, Rodrigues; Ricketts, Harkes, Le Roux, Espinosa; Arango, Pellegrino; Martinez
Colorado Rapids possible starting lineup:
Steffen; Maxso, Awaziem, Murphy, Rosenberry; Bassett, Larraz, Atencio; Cabral, Navarro, Mihailovic
We say: San Jose Earthquakes 1-0 Colorado Rapids
San Jose have enjoyed a good start to the season with a couple of commanding victories and goals to boot, and given their quality, the visitors face a daunting task this weekend.
Although Colorado have been resolute in their first three outings of the season, the hosts are likely to edge this contest 1-0.
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