After a stellar start to the season in which they lost just once in their first 12 MLS matches, the San Jose Earthquakes have hit a rough patch.
The Earthquakes (9-3-2, 29 points), who are still tied in points with Vancouver atop the Western Conference, will look to snap out of a four-match winless streak (0-2-2) when they play Saturday at Portland (4-7-2, 14 points) in the final match for both clubs before the seven-week break for the FIFA World Cup.
It won’t be an easy task for the Earthquakes, also riding a two-game losing streak, as they’ve never won at Providence Park (0-14-5) since the Timbers joined the league in 2011.
“We’d like to win (against Portland), that would be a positive to take into the World Cup break,” said Earthquakes coach Bruce Arena, whose team has been without forward Timo Werner and midfielder Niko Tsakiris because of lower-body injuries. “The schedule has impacted a lot of teams in the league, so we can’t attribute (struggles) to that. It’s been challenging, but it’s no excuse. We’re no different to most of the teams in the league.”
In addition, the Earthquakes played a U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal Wednesday at Colorado, losing 2-0.
In Werner’s absence, San Jose forward Preston Judd already has surpassed his career high with nine goals this season.
The Timbers are coming off a 2-0 loss last weekend at defending MLS Cup champion Inter Miami, as Lionel Messi had a goal and an assist. Portland defeated Sporting Kansas City 6-0 in its last home match as Kevin Kelsy tallied twice.
Kelsy leads the Timbers with eight goal contributions (five goals, three assists), one more than Kristoffer Velde (four goals, three assists).
“We need our big players to score goals,” Timbers coach Phil Neville said. “(The Miami game) was about the big players scoring goals, and I felt like that was the difference between the two teams.”
Timbers defender Finn Surman, recently named to New Zealand’s World Cup roster, expects a difficult match.
“They work very hard, and I think that’s a really good strength of theirs. They work hard for each other, and they’re a team you know will never stop running and never give up,” Surman said of the Earthquakes.
“I think the way we train and the fact that we try to press as well, it helps because we’re used to it. But it’s going to be a very different game to the one against Miami, which was a bit slower. We still need to have quality on the ball and make chances and make things happen, which we’ll try to do.”
–Field Level Media
