Fresh from their first victory of the MLS campaign a week ago, Toronto can claim their first-ever triumph at PayPal Park when they visit the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday.
The Quakes dropped their second road contest last weekend, 3-0 at St Louis City SC, while the Reds blanked Inter Miami 2-0.
Match preview
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In Silicon Valley, the rebuilding era under Luchi Gonzalez has come with highs and lows, and last weekend we saw the latter as they suffered their worst defeat of the campaign.
The Goonies are not the only team to be surprised by St Louis so far this season, but despite a strong start last week, they seemed to lose their intensity as the match wore on and were made to pay.
That was one of the rare instances this season in which they failed to keep pace with their opponents, with their three previous encounters being decided by a goal or fewer.
At home, we have seen them start slowly but pick up steam later on, winning their only two matches played at PayPal Park this year, with all three of their goals coming in the second half.
One thing we rarely saw from this group in 2022 was a solid defensive shape, conceding the second-most goals during the previous regular-season (69), but they looked much sharper at home to the Colorado Rapids, holding them to zero shots on target.
San Jose have already picked up six points after four matches in 2023, something which took them twice as long to collect a year ago.
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Toronto are finally in the win column this year, and they thoroughly deserved it against the Herons, limiting their chances in what was perhaps the most complete performance of the campaign for the Reds so far.
Bob Bradley saw his players look sharper in connecting passes with fewer touches while catching Miami in transition with their fluidity.
The next step is finding a way to win on the road, something they have not done in a regular season encounter since August 2022.
It's been over five years since the Reds have picked up three points in this competition in California, defeating the Los Angeles Galaxy 4-0 in Carson City in 2017.
Two of their three clean sheets a year ago came away from home, though so far in 2023, four of their five goals conceded have occurred outside Toronto.
They have been positioned to win each of their encounters thus far though last Saturday was the first time that TFC managed to claim all three points when scoring first since defeating Charlotte FC 2-0 last August.
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Team News
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Jamiro Monteiro missed the Quakes match against St Louis with a red card suspension, Daniel sat out due to a thigh issue, Niko Tsakiris remains sidelined because of an adductor strain, Nathan continues to recover from ACL surgery and Judson has a knee injury.
Miguel Trauco was called up to the Peruvian national team for the international window, while Monteiro is with Cape Verde.
The last time they faced Toronto in the regular season was at BMO Field last year, when Jeremy Ebobisse put the Goonies in front after 26 minutes before they conceded twice in four minutes in the second half, eventually salvaging a draw thanks to a 92nd-minute strike from Jack Skahan.
Themi Antonoglou, Lorenzo Insigne and Adama Diomande are all dealing with lower body injuries for Toronto, while Shane O'Neill has been experiencing his share of headaches.
Tomas Romero was named to the El Salvador national team for their upcoming Nations League match, while Jonathan Osorio, Richie Laryea, Mark-Anthony Kaye and Ayo Akinola were all added to the Canadian roster.
Osorio made TFC history last weekend, scoring the winner against Miami, having now found the back of the net in each of his 11 seasons with the Reds, with Kaye adding an insurance marker and Sean Johnson making three stops for his first clean sheet with Toronto.
San Jose Earthquakes possible starting lineup:
Marcinkowski; Akapo, Mensah, Rodrigues, Beason; Yueill, Skahan, Thompson; Espinoza, Ebobisse, Cowell
Toronto possible starting lineup:
Johnson; Marshall-Rutty, Rosted, Hedges, Petretta; Vazquez, Bradley, Thompson, Servania; Kerr, Bernardeschi
We say: San Jose Earthquakes 2-0 Toronto
Toronto seem to have a dependable centre-back pairing, but there does not appear to be much depth across the board, and that could present a problem this weekend with some key midfielders being away for the international break.
We expect the Quakes to have a decided edge in the midfield and create enough scoring chances to eventually come out on top.
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Top tip
Joel Lefevre
