The San Jose Earthquakes look to get back on the wining side of the ledger this weekend against Chivas USA. Although Chivas sit last in the Western Conference standings, the Earthquakes are only two points better after 5 matches. Is this a “must win” game for the Earthquakes? I for one never thought this question would be posed so early in the season, but Manager Frank Yallop said this week his 1-2-2 team “has got to win” against the 0-2-3 Goats. If possible, Yallop was more than disappointed with his team’s performance against the New York Red Bulls last week in a 3-0 defeat. This weekend’s match seems to be a great opportunity to grab maximum points against a seemingly lesser squad.
The two sides have shown to be similar offensively. Both have very potent offenses with dynamic scorers, but have yet to find a finishing touch. 2010 Budweiser Golden Boot winner Chris Wondolowski looks to continue his success against Chivas. In the teams’ two meetings last year, a “Wondo” scored 4 goals, including a hat trick in the home match at Buck Shaw Stadium. Yallop will also look to team co-leading goal scorer Simon Dawkins to add to his goal total and Ryan Johnson and Jason Hernandez to lead his defense-first gameplan. The Goats rookie manager Robin Fraser will look to Nick LaBrocca and Ben Zemanski to spark the offense and Heath Pearce and Ante Jazic and to lead the defense.
The Earthquakes saw their unbeaten streak snapped last weekend in New York. The Goats have drawn three straight matches, the last being away in Vancouver last Saturday. Chivas USA leads the all-time series 4-3-4. The match will kick off at 1PM PST from Buck Shaw Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
(image courtesy of sjearthquakes.com)
