After a rough trip to Toronto, the San Jose Earthquakes return home to Avaya Stadium to take on FC Dallas for the second time this season. FC Dallas is looking to end their two game losing streak with a third win in three matches against the Quakes who saw a 5 game unbeaten run ended last week. With only 3 points separating the two clubs in the Western Conference, a gap from third to seventh place in the standings, there’s a lot resting on the match for both clubs.
The Quakes stat line in Toronto looked like an improvement from previous games, completing 80% of their passing and winning the possession battle 58%-42%. Where it went downhill was the 5-34 on crosses, which comes out to 15% accuracy, and only 2 of their 18 shots on target compared to 9 off target, many not even close. Their accuracy in the final third needs to improve if they want to beat Dallas and they’ll need to get quality looks over shots taken out of desperation.
The real problem for San Jose was their defending, or rather their lack thereof. All three of Toronto’s goals came from a defensive lapse that left someone open in the box or a lack of pressure on the ball. While Dallas might not have a distributor like Giovinco to tear the defense apart, Tesho Akindele and Mauro Diaz are both capable of creating problems for defenses. The Quakes defense will have to key in on those threats, as well as Fabian Castillo should he be healthy, and not get caught ball watching again if they want to keep Dallas off the score sheet and get a win. Unfortunately for San Jose, they’ll be without defensive midfielder Fatai Alashe and defensive general Clarence Goodson will likely be a game day decision after suffering an injury last week.
Dallas on the other hand needs to regroup and find the attacking prowess they showed at the beginning of the year. They will have to find a way to do so without leading scorer, Blaz Perez, who will be away on international duty. It’s likely that David Texeira will start up top in place of Perez, and the Uruguayan will pose a formidable threat for the Earthquakes back line. Dallas will need to control the ball through the midfield and will likely be able to find holes at the back of San Jose’s midfield with Alashe missing. The rookie has been a major part of the Earthquake defense and the team has struggled when he’s away.
San Jose will also be hoping their home field advantage will give them the edge in the match. The Quakes have only played 5 of their 13 matches at home up to this point and have taken 10 points from those matches, scoring 6 goals to their opponent’s 3. Dallas on the other hand have only taken 7 points from their 6 road matches. The home crowd at Avaya Stadium has been electric in its inaugural season and San Jose has ridden that energy to masterful performances such as the 1-0 defeat of then West leaders Vancouver who failed to register a shot on target and only one shot inside the 18 yard box. If San Jose can tap into that energy, it will surely be an uphill battle for Dallas.
The match will be nationally broadcast from Avaya Stadium in San Jose on Sunday, June 7th at 4 pm PT on Fox Sports 1.
