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The San Jose Earthquakes (0-2-3) return home Saturday to Buck Shaw stadium still winless five games into the 2014 MLS season. This week's opponents, Chivas USA (1-3-3), are still looking for their first road win after coming off a 2-1 home defeat to the Seattle Sounders.
It’s déjà vu all over again for the Earthquakes – another slow start to the season, just as in 2013. Coach Mark Watson has been unable to field a consistent line-up, and the squad will again be missing key players through injury: Jordan Stewart, Brandon Barklage, Yannick Djalo, Alan Gordon, Steven Lenhart; Adam Jahn is also unavailable after last weekend’s red card.
Chivas USA could see the return of Oswaldo Minda to bolster the back line, although various reports have Martin Rivero, Matthew Dunn, Tony Lochhead and Andres Jean-Baptiste out with injuries; Marco Delgado is also unavailable due to his own red card against Seattle.
San Jose’s recent record against the Rojiblancos (4-0-2) is good with four wins in their last six meetings. The Quakes have out-scored Chivas USA 12-3 during that unbeaten stretch, with Chris Wondolowski scoring 10 goals in his last 10 appearances against the Southern California club. The Quakes should be looking to exploit the pace of Shea Salinas and Cordell Cato to outrun Bocanegra and Burling in the Chivas USA defense, and get the ball to Wondo if they want to win this game.