Chris Wondolowski (8) takes a penalty kick against Sporting Kansas City. Photo credit John Hefti.

After scoring 5 goals against Sporting KC on Wednesday, Quakes fans might be wondering if the team saved any goals for DC after having a near month and a half of limited scoring. Chris Wondolowski’s brace could be the opening of the floodgates for the captain after struggling to find his form after returning from the Gold Cup. Playing as a forward underneath Quincy Amarikwa, Wondo looked like his old self as he continuously stretched the defense and opened attacking lanes, something the team will be looking for again on the weekend. If the Quakes attack can repeat the performance against United, there might be little the home team can do to stop them.

United’s defense is going to be reeling from the loss of Chris Korb to a season ending knee injury, just as regular starter Sean Franklin returns from injury, leaving the defense shorthanded again. Add in a midweek Champions League match as well and you’re left with a very tired defense who will have to deal with the newly rejuvenated Quakes attack. Up top Chris Rolfe and Alvaro Saborio are more than capable of causing problems of their own for opposing defenses and San Jose will have to cope with them as well as looking out for defender Taylor Kemp whose can use his speed to get behind defenses.

Coach Dominic Kinnear will also have to figure out how to work Matias Perez Garcia into the lineup if he is indeed healthy enough to play. Garcia missed the last match with a hamstring injury but the midfield looked to be firing on all cylinders without him. Wingers Cordell Cato and Shea Salinas had fantastic performances as they combined for 2 goals and were dangerous throughout while the new defensive midfield pairing of Anibal Godoy and Fatai Alashe was dangerous in their own right creating multiple scoring chances and locking down the midfield defensively. This could be a perfect time for Kinnear to rest Garcia until he gets to full health and can contribute a full 90 minutes to the team.

The biggest thing to look for in both teams is how rested they will be after both teams played a midweek match. D.C. had to travel south to Panama to take on Arabe Unido in a 1-0 victory while San Jose was in Kansas City and it will be interesting to see which team is more fatigued. D.C. had a tougher game and longer travel but they will also have the comfort of home to aid in their rest. San Jose is also still working on getting Godoy enough training sessions with the squad since arriving the morning of the Colorado game although it hasn’t seemed to bother the Panamanian after putting in 2 fantastic performances in both games.

The match will be broadcast at 4 pm PDT on Saturday August, 22nd on CSN Plus in San Jose and CSN-Washington in D.C.