A pair of west coast sides are looking to extend their unbeaten runs on Friday when the San Jose Earthquakes play host to the Vancouver Whitecaps at PayPal Park.
The Quakes edged Los Angeles FC 2-1 on Sunday and are now unbeaten in their last seven games, while the Caps drew for a fourth consecutive game, 1-1 against the Los Angeles Galaxy.
Match preview
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Slowly but surely, San Jose have climbed back into contention for a playoff spot in the Western Conference, winning for a second time in three matches this past weekend, and they are currently sitting only two points behind the Black-and-Gold for a post-season berth.
This is the longest unbeaten run for this team in the regular season since 2013, and it is a great improvement for a side who went winless in seven straight fixtures before their current run.
They may still be allowing their share of goals, but lately, a lot of that damage has been limited, conceding multiple goals only once in a single match in their last seven encounters.
Defensively, the Goonies seem to struggle to keep the ball out of their own net at home, where they have given up eight goals in their last four games.
San Jose began this campaign scoring a lot of goals, notching 10 in their opening four fixtures, and they have had a lot of success finding the back of the net against Vancouver, scoring 11 times against them in their previous four home games.
The Quakes have never qualified for the post-season in consecutive seasons since the early 2000s, when they made the playoffs on five successive ocassions from 2001-2005.
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Vancouver continue to fight hard, but they cannot seem to find that extra level to turn some of their draws into wins.
Like the Quakes, they are taking baby steps in the right direction, unbeaten in their last five matches, but they remain dead last in the Western Conference with 16 points.
Marc Dos Santos saw his shorthanded squad, who were missing a couple of key contributors, fight their way back against LA this past weekend, as the Caps have now earned five points in their last three fixtures after being in a losing position heading into the second half of their game last Sunday.
Staying organized, particularly in transition and being more aggressive going forward, have made a big difference in the Caps' recent success, and they will need to do more of that versus a side who have only maintained two clean sheets all season.
At the midway point of the year, Vancouver are not where they would like to be, but the hope is that some of their new additions can add that little bit extra that they need to start earning more points.
Before returning home to BC Place Stadium for their first regular match in front of their adoring fans, they will have to find a way to maintain their high energy level with two games in five days, starting on Friday.
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Team News
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The Quakes will be without Matt Bersano, and Jacob Akanyirige, who both have left knee issues, while Benji Kikanovic has a right thigh problem and Eric Remedi is questionable with a right lower leg issue.
Jeremy Ebobisse made his San Jose debut on Sunday, coming on as a first-half substitute, joining Javier Lopez in attack, as the leading goalscorer for the club, notched his second goal in as many games.
Last Friday, they made a trade with Vancouver, sending defender Florian Jungwirth to the Canadian side in exchange for $200,000 in General Allocation Money (GAM), with another $100,000 GAM in performance-based incentives.
The Whitecaps will be missing their top two goalscoring threats with Cristian Dajome nursing a right knee contusion, while Lucas Cavallini was taken off in the first half against the Galaxy this past weekend with a knee injury and will miss the next six weeks.
Cristian Gutierrez has a left quad strain, while Bruno Gaspar saw his first action since May, coming on as a substitute in their last match, and the club also announced that they loaned forward Theo Bair to Hamarkameratene in Norway for the remainder of the season.
Midfielder Ryan Gauld made his first career MLS appearance versus LA, while Ranko Veselinovic got his head under a Deiber Caicedo corner on Sunday, scoring his first career MLS goal.
San Jose Earthquakes possible starting lineup:
Marcinkowski; Nathan, Alanis, Beason; Fierro, Remedi, Yueill, Salinas; Espinoza, Lopez, Ebobisse
Vancouver Whitecaps possible starting lineup:
Crepeau; Nerwinski, Godoy, Vesilinovic, Gaspar; Bikel, Jungwirth, Teibert, Gauld; Caicedo, White
We say: San Jose Earthquakes 2-0 Vancouver Whitecaps
The Quakes have been a lot better defensively, and they will be facing an inexperienced Vancouver backline who will be missing their best offensive weapons, which could make life a lot easier for goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski for a change.
Top tip
Joel Lefevre
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a San Jose Earthquakes win with a probability of 67.5%. A draw had a probability of 17.5% and a win for Vancouver Whitecaps had a probability of 15.02%.
The most likely scoreline for a San Jose Earthquakes win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.44%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (8.61%) and 3-1 (7.79%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (7.63%), while for a Vancouver Whitecaps win it was 1-2 (4.18%). The actual scoreline of 0-0 was predicted with a 2.8% likelihood.
