San Jose Earthquakes vs. Los Angeles Football Club | 2018 MLS Match Preview

Dylan Butler

San Jose Earthquakes vs. LAFC
2018 MLS Regular Season – Week 15
Avaya Stadium - San Jose
June 9 – 10:30 pm ET
WATCH: ESPN+, MLS LIVE on DAZN (Canada)

Two Western Conference teams looking to end matching four-match winless streaks meet at Avaya Stadium as the San Jose Earthquakes, who have lost three straight, host LAFC, who are 0-2-2 in their last four games.

LAFC have scored 14 goals in the second half of matches, tied for the fifth most of any MLS club, per Opta.

San Jose Earthquakes

Following somewhat of an offensive explosion in a 2-2 draw against Vancouver Whitecaps FC, the Earthquakes (2-8-3) have scored a total of three goals in three consecutive defeats, including a 2-1 loss to the Chicago Fire on Saturday.

After falling in a 2-0 hole on goals by Alan Gordon and Aleksandar Katai, Danny Hoesen scored his seventh goal of the season in the 74th minute, but an equalizer didn’t materialize for the Quakes, who fell to the Portland Timbers, 2-0, in the Fourth Round of the U.S. Open Cup Wednesday night.

“We have two extremely important league games now. We are close, but we’re obviously not good enough,” head coach Mikael Stahre said. “We have to win now, with two extremely important games at home. First against LAFC and then the New England Revolution. It will be super important for us to bring back the confidence and show the fans and ownership and everyone that we’re proud to play for the club and show the qualities in order to win.”

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: M - Anibal Godoy
International duty: D - Harold Cummings, M - Anibal Godoy
Injury Report: OUT: D - Shea Salinas (hamstring injury); QUESTIONABLE: D - Jacob Akanyirige (ankle injury)

Projected Starting XI
(4-4-2, right to left)
GK: Andrew Tarbell — Nick Lima, Jimmy Ockford, Yefferson Quintana, Fatai Alashe — Christopher Wehan, Florian Jungwirth Magnus Eriksson, Vako — Chris Wondolowski, Danny Hoesen

Notes: Since the start of May, Hoesen has an expected goals (ex. penalties) rate of 3.36, the third highest of any player (scored four goals, tied for the third most of any player). … The Earthquakes have lost three straight MLS matches, scoring just two goals in the three matches. They have not lost four straight in league play since July 2015.

LAFC

The season-long winless streak extended to four matches on Saturday as LAFC (6-4-3) fell to FC Dallas, 2-1, in Frisco. Adama Diomande scored his first MLS goal in the 61st minute 10 minutes after Roland Lamah doubled FC Dallas’ lead.

On Wednesday, LAFC achieved another milestone with their first Open Cup victory, beating Fresno FC, 2-0, at Banc of California Stadium. Diego Rossi and Latif Blessing scored three minutes apart in the second half for LAFC.

“It takes a while to start to open them up a bit and I thought as the first half went on got better, found some ways to play through lines, started to create a little bit more and then the goals come and there’s a stretch where with the ball we keep possession,” head coach Bob Bradley said. “I’d like to see the third goal and if I’m being difficult, which is normal, I thought over the last 10 minutes we were sloppy.”

Suspended: D - Jordan Harvey
Suspended after next caution: None
International duty: M - Omar Gaber, F - Marco Urena, F - Carlos Vela, D - Laurent Ciman
Injury Report: OUT: GK - Luis Lopez (right tibial stress fracture)

Projected Starting XI
(4-3-3, right to left)
GK: Tyler Miller — Steven Beitashour, Walker Zimmerman, Tristan Blackmon, Joao Moutinho — Mark-Anthony Kaye, Eduard Atuesta, Benny Feilhaber — Lee Nguyen, Latif Blessing, Diego Rossi

Notes: Rossi has a shot conversion rate of 13.2% this season, the third worst among players with at least five goals. … LAFC enters this weekend averaging 2.3 goals per league road game. No team has ever finished a season averaging more than 1.8 goals per game on the road (2014 Seattle Sounders – 2.0).