Match Preview - San Jose Earthquakes
Game Info
Kickoff: 9:40 PM CST
Watch: Apple TV
Location: PayPal Park - San Jose, CA
All-Time H2H Record:
Austin FC has an all-time record of 1W - 2L - 5D against San Jose.
Austin secured its first win against the Earthquakes in their matchup at Q2 Stadium on April 6th. In a game that saw tears stream from ZG’s eyes, Austin fell behind 2-0 in the 58th minute but staged a stunning comeback to grasp victory from the jaws of defeat. Sebastián Driussi tallied a brace with a miraculous game-winner in the 101st minute of play – the latest goal in Austin FC history.
You really had to be there.
San Jose Earthquakes Recent Form:
This San Jose team is a peculiar one. They’ve been arguably the most unlucky team in MLS this season and currently sit in last place of the Western Conference with a 3-10-1 record for a total of 10 points on the year. They are 2-2 in their last 4 league matches and are coming off another absolutely crushing loss to Sacramento Republic FC in the US Open Cup Round of 16 on Tuesday night. The game was more of the same for this San Jose team as they conceded two goals in the second half of extra time to drop the matchup versus the USL side. With their MLS campaign looking bleak, their hopes to salvage early season fan sentiment were dashed in the 4-3 defeat. Let’s shift our attention to what has changed since we last saw the Earthquakes in early April.
Offseason acquisition Amahl Pellegrino scored his first goal of the year in his 21 minutes of play at Q2 Stadium and has scored three times in his last five appearances. He’s been dangerous all season, but was unable to find the net until a costly defensive mishap by Austin allowed him to get a 1v1 against Brad Stuver that he capitalized on. On top of Pellegrino’s emergence, the Earthquakes welcomed 23-year-old DP Hernan Lopez to the lineup on May 4th in a clash with LAFC. Since his debut, the Argentinian national has scored three times and posted a FotMob rating of 7.51 in six appearances.
While it’s a welcome sight for Earthquakes fans that Lopez is in the rotation and Pellegrino has gained form, their defense is an absolute sieve and neither of those players provide much support on the defensive side of the ball. San Jose has conceded a whopping 33 goals in 14 contests for an average of 2.36 goals allowed per match, both numbers are the worst in the league. On top of that, Daniel, San Jose’s starting keeper, is still out and not expected to be back until early June. William Yarbrough has spent the majority of time in the net this season for the Earthquakes, and it has not gone well to say the least. The journeyman keeper has a dismal 58.6 save percentage and has not looked even remotely competent in his time as the starter. Not the the Earthquakes defense has done him any favors. This is a team that has yet to keep a clean sheet during league play.
Austin’s Recent Form:
WHAT A TIME TO BE AN AUSTIN FC FAN! Wow. It’s been a whirlwind of a week, so before we get into the recent form let’s review what happened. Emiliano Rigoni, the failed DP signing from the Claudio Reyna era was bought out and waived by Austin FC on Tuesday morning. After his departure, many fans (including The North End boys) anticipated lots of speculation and rumors over the coming weeks leading up to the opening of the summer transfer window. Well, it only took about 24 hours for a massive rumor to surface in the form of Osman Bukari, a talented Ghanian winger that would reportedly fill Rigoni’s vacated DP roster slot. Bukari has 17 caps with the Ghanian national team, where he has at times started over teammate and Los Angeles Galaxy winger, Joseph Paintsil, who currently has 8 goal contributions this season in MLS. Bukari completed his 2024 campaign in the Serbian first division with Red Star, who absolutely dominated the league posting an impressive 30-3-3 record for a total of 93 points. To be clear, Bukari isn’t officially announced by the team as of yet. But Tom Bogert reported that the deal is being finalized, and when it becomes “Bogert official” you can pretty much count on it coming to pass. Boy oh boy – it’s an exciting time.
That’s enough of that. Enter stage left, Austin FC – winners of their last two with victories over Houston and Sporting KC. The team is 6-2-1 over their last nine matches. All of this recent success has positioned Austin FC quite nicely in the table, as they sit in 3rd place with a total of 22 points from their 14 games played.
As I mentioned on the pod this week, this recent run of form will not last forever. But I do believe that the fight this team has consistently shown all season will last, and that’s what implores me to feel confident in Austin’s ability to thug out another result on the road. While the locker room must be abuzz with emotions (there were a ton of heartfelt goodbyes posted on social media on Tuesday), there is still a job to be done. That’s part of the beauty and agony of sports and a long season. You lose teammates and have to say goodbyes. But then you must press on. This team has the veteran presence to keep their eyes on the prize and I anticipate a focused Verde and Black side who know that San Jose is a wounded team coming off a brutal defeat. There’s blood in the water out there in California.
Lucky for us, we have an apex predator on our team. Driussi has all but regained his 2022 form when he was snubbed of an MVP award in favor of Hany Mukhtar. I don’t want to say I called it, butttttt I FUCKING CALLED THE REVENGE TOUR. Go back and look. I said get your tickets ready because I was expecting a man on fire, and he sure has been.
Chemistry is growing. Continuity is flourishing. The connection between Pereira, Ring, and Driussi is stronger than ever in the midfield. Give me Austin to dominate this matchup and solidify their position in the table.
Injury Report:
ATX - Guilherme Biro (Questionable - Hamstring)
SJ - James Marcinkowski (OUT - Cruciate Ligament), Daniel (OUT - Hamstring), Jamar Ricketts (OUT - Hip)
San Jose Players to Watch:
Cristian Espinoza - Lost in the arrival of Hernan Lopez is Cristian Espinoza, who is still just as much of a stud as he’s always been. The Argentine has seven assists already and nine total goal contributions. He assisted on the opening goal for San Jose on April 6th with a cheeky cross and was an issue all night for Austin’s fullbacks. To counteract his offensive potency, I would hope the coaching staff decides to roll out Owen Wolff on one of the wings, who is one of the team’s top transition defenders (go check the numbers), to help our fullbacks handle the tall task of corralling Espinoza. He’s a pass first player and likes to get his teammates involved before looking for his own shot and with weapons like Lopez, Ebobisse, and Pellegrino he has a lot to choose from.
Jeremy Ebobisse - The Dreaded Ebobisse, pretty great pirate name. What is there to say? When he plays against Austin, he typically scores. His speed and vertical ability gives us fits and he routinely finds himself in advantageous positions on the field, especially in and around net, when we face him.
Austin Players to Watch:
Diego Rubio - Diego has looked mighty frustrated the last few games, but we know that scowl can turn to a smile if he sees the ball enter the back of the net. As mentioned, the San Jose defense is putrid and their goalkeeping is subpar. If there was ever a “get right” game, then this is it. Hopefully Diego directs his intensity and ire at the opposing defenders, because opportunities are sure to come his way.
CJ Fodrey - The opportunity has been laid before him. Until Bukari (likely) arrives, CJ has nine games to really solidify his position on the depth chart. The departure of Emiliano Rigoni creates plenty of minutes to be gobbled up by Fodrey and it’s up to him to make the most of it. CJ has looked much more comfortable with the first team this season and it feels fair to say his understanding of how this coaching staff wants him to play has elevated. The trust level has increased and it feels like the last few weeks has bolstered his confidence. I’m not sure if he’ll start, but I do anticipate him seeing time. We have three games in an eight day span, with the final matchup taking place in the elevation out in Utah. The team will be rotating at some point, and this could provide CJ the opportunity to play even more substantial minutes. We’re all pulling for you young buck – go get em.
Predictions:
E - 3-1 Win
ZG - 2-2 Draw
