San Jose vs Los Angeles: Carlos Vela and his team must win

San Jose has been unbeaten for almost a month and a half in the MLS, but even in a home game against Los Angeles, the Earthquakes are seen as clear underdogs. Will the home team be able to shake off the naysayers and score again?

San Jose doesn't have the strongest roster by MLS standards, so its ranking 10th in the Western Conference standings isn’t that surprising. The best scorer in league history, Chris Wondolowski, still plays for the team, but more often than not coming on as a substitute. He has scored a total of 2 goals in this league, and all of a sudden 17-year-old Cade Caldwell began leading the attack. He has scored 5 goals and made 4 assists in the current regular season.

Above all, the Earthquakes have serious problems on defense: only Vancouver has conceded more goals in the Western Conference, and their xG ratio is the worst among all the teams. Matt Bersano, Benji Kikanovic and Jake Akanyirige are still on the club's sideline. Eric Remedi is listed as questionable.

Matías Almeyda's team drew 5 times in their last 6 games, earning their only win away against Seattle (1-0). Last match against Portland ended in a 1-1 draw. The game was a double-edged sword, and the opponent could have scored 3-4 goals if they hadn’t missed some of their chances in the second half. The Earthquakes didn't take every chance they had too, but they created much fewer. With the score tied at 1-1, Nathan put a cross into the penalty box, only to miss the shot from a good position. In total, San Jose had 13 shots on goal compared to their opponent's 21.

The hot favorite of the Western Conference year after year, Los Angeles FC is now only 7th in the standings. Carlos Vela is far from being in his top form, having scored only 5 goals this season. Still, that's the best result on the team, the same number of goals scored by another leader - Diego Rossi. Apparently, it's just a matter of realizing the chances: Los Angeles ranks fourth in the MLS standings in terms of xG (27.89), but has scored only 23 times. There aren't many losses on the roster, but it's much harder to play without main center-back Eddie Segura. Another player out of the game is Kwadwo Opoku who was in the starting lineup at the beginning of the season.

Los Angeles has scored only 2 points in their last 4 games, tying with Minnesota (2-2) and Vancouver (2-2). Previously Bob Bradley's team lost at home to Sporting Kansas City 1-4. Right in the first half the team conceded 3 goals, but even such a game could have been at least a draw. Diego Rossi, Tristan Blackmon, and Raheem Edwards failed to score from good positions, although their scoring chances would have been enough for 4 goals.Only in the end Danny Musovski, who came on as a substitute, scored a consolation goal to finish the game.

Los Angeles have beaten San Jose 6 times out of 8 head-to-head encounters, but the Earthquakes turned out stronger in the last 2 matches. The last game ended 3-2 in favor of Matías Almeyda's team.

Both teams have had problems on defense lately, but during the season, Los Angeles has been much more confident defensively and is among the best clubs in the MLS. San Jose could have conceded 3-4 goals in their last encounter, and their current opponent can play out a similar scenario. The guests just need to tighten up and take their chances, and the victory is in the bag. The Los Angeles players scored a total of 11 goals in the last 3 games against the Earthquakes - this time, it can take only 2 to win. The odds for the game are the following:

• Los Angeles to win for 1.86
• Los Angeles to win with H (-1.5) for 3.05
• Los Angeles to win to nil for 4.0