San Jose Earthquakes will be hoping to hold onto their spot inside the automatic playoff positions when they host Seattle Sounders on Thursday.
Seattle, meanwhile, have moved up to second place in the Western Conference table by recording back-to-back victories.
Match preview
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Having qualified for the playoffs just once in the last five seasons, the Earthquakes are hoping that their fortunes will improve with the guidance of Luchi Gonzalez after turning to him in January earlier this year.
The 42-year-old, who previously managed FC Dallas before joining USA's international team as an assistant, has made a decent enough impact since moving to San Jose, with seven wins from 22 league games in charge enough to see his side occupying the last automatic playoff position.
As such, the club's fanbase will be dreaming of their side enjoying an excellent season by their low standards in recent years, with it now being more than a decade since they went beyond the first-round stage in the playoffs.
Despite gaining two respectable draws against both Los Angeles-based sides in their most recent outings, only sharing the spoils has extended Earthquakes' winless streak to five matches, which piles the pressure on them returning to victorious ways at PayPal Park on Thursday.
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That will certainly not be an easy task against Seattle, though, who have dispatched Houston Dynamo and Vancouver Whitecaps in their last two matches to cement their position inside the playoff spots.
Indeed, only St Louis City have gained more points than them in the Western Conference, with Brian Schmetzer's side enjoying a healthy seven-point cushion inside the top seven places.
Schmetzer, who has spent 13 years managing Seattle across two separate spells, led them to the MLS Cup in 2016 and 2019, as well as finishing as runners-up in the ensuing two seasons on both occasions.
As such, his position at the club is likely to be his as long as he wants to retain it providing nothing goes drastically wrong, but he will not allow his players to exert anything short of maximum efforts in pursuit of completing a hat-trick of MLS Cup triumphs at the club.
Team News
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Earthquakes will be forced to take to the field without their first-choice goalkeeper Daniel after he was sent off against Los Angeles FC, with JT Marcinkowski set to be called upon in his absence.
Jamiro Monteiro, Michael Baldisimo and Nathan Cardoso are all expected to remain sidelined through injury, with Gonzalez unlikely to make many other changes after claiming an excellent point away to the reigning MLS champions.
Seattle, meanwhile, will travel without Kelyn Rowe, Stefan Frei, Ethan Dobbelaere, Xavier Arreaga and Sota Kitahara due to injury.
Leo Chu will almost certainly start from the left flank once again after bagging a brace in his side's 3-2 victory against Vancouver last time out.
San Jose Earthquakes possible starting lineup:
Marcinkowski; Rodrigues, Jonathan, Beason; Akapo, Gruezo, Skahan, Trauco, Marie; Espinoza, Ebobisse
Seattle Sounders possible starting lineup:
Cleveland; Roldan, Gomez, Ragen, Tolo; Vargas, Paulo; Lodeiro, Rusnak, Chu; Ruidiaz
We say: San Jose Earthquakes 1-1 Seattle Sounders
San Jose have drawn their last two matches, and we can envisage them having to settle for a point once again, with Seattle unlikely to push too hard for a victory having won their last two games.
Both sides will be hoping that avoiding defeat proves enough to maintain their positions in the table, as they desperately look to qualify for the end of season playoffs.
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Brett Curtis
