Los Angeles Galaxy will be desperate to get their first win of the 2025 MLS campaign on the board when they play host to San Jose Earthquakes on Wednesday night.
While the visitors have put together a fine run of form of late, they have failed to taste victory in any of their last nine games against the hosts and will head into the midweek clash looking to end this three-year spell.
Match preview
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Five months on from storming to the MLS playoff crown, Los Angeles Galaxy find themselves rock-bottom in the league standings in what has been an embarrassing title defence so far.
Having picked up 19 wins from the 34 regular-season games last year, Greg Vanney's men are the only side yet to taste victory in the league this term, losing 11 and claiming four draws from their 15 matches so far.
This poor run of results has been owing to their defensive vulnerability as Los Angeles Galaxy are yet to keep a clean sheet in the league and have conceded 35 goals already — eight more than the other 29 teams.
That was highlighted last Saturday when they fell to a 2-1 defeat against San Diego FC after conceding a 95th-minute winner from veteran forward Hirving Lozano at the Snapdragon Stadium.
LA Galaxy, who finished with the third-most goals scored in MLS last year (69), have managed just 13 from their 15 games this season — only fellow strugglers CF Montreal (10) and St Louis City (11) have managed fewer.
However, Vanney's men will be backing themselves to bounce back on Thursday as they take on an opposing side against whom they are on a four-game winning streak and are unbeaten in their last nine encounters, claiming seven wins and two draws since a 3-2 loss in July 2022.
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San Jose Earthquakes were left spitting feathers in Sunday's clash against Houston Dynamo as their comeback attempt was thwarted after conceding a 91st-minute equaliser at PayPal Park.
Fresh off the back of a 1-0 extra-time victory over Portland Timbers in the US Open Cup round-of-16 on May 21, San Jose found themselves two goals down after Ezequiel Ponce and Felipe Andrade hit the target to put Houston in a commanding lead heading into the final half-hour.
San Jose Earthquakes responded with quick-fire goals from Preston Judd to level matters for before Daniel Munie struck in the 76th minute to turn the game on its head but Houston full-back Griffin Dorsey netted a long-ranger belter in the 91st minute to force a share of the spoils.
With Sunday's result, Bruce Arena's side have now gone seven back-to-back matches without defeat across all competitions, picking up four wins and three draws since losing three consecutive games against Los Angeles FC, Sporting Kansas City and Columbus Crew in April.
After weeks of mediocre results, this upturn in form has seen Arena's men surge into the top half of the Western Conference standings as they sit eighth in the table, level on 19 points with ninth-placed Austin FC.
San Jose will need to be at their best at PayPal Arena as they have failed to win four of their most recent five games on the road — losing three and claiming one draw — with a 2-0 victory at Colorado Rapids on May 11 being the exception.
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Team News
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Los Angeles Galaxy remain without the services of Spanish midfielder Riqui Puig, who continues his lengthy spell on the sidelines after suffering an ACL injury in December.
Barring any late fitness issues, Puig is the only guaranteed absentee for LA Galaxy, giving head coach Vanney the luxury of a relatively full-strength squad to select from on Thursday.
As for San Jose Earthquakes, Arena will be unable to name the midfield duo of Niko Tsakiris and 20-year-old Englishman Noel Buck, who have been ruled out through injuries.
First-choice goalkeeper Daniel has missed each of the last two games since coming off injured against New England Revolution on May 18 and the 31-year-old is out of contention for the visitors.
Veteran forward Cristian Arango is also set to sit out his fourth consecutive game through a muscle injury and the Colombian will play no part in Wednesday's matchup.
Los Angeles Galaxy possible starting lineup:
Micovic; Yamane, Yoshida, Garces, Nelson; Cerrillo, Sanabria, Reus; Pec, Fagundez, Paintsil
San Jose Earthquakes possible starting lineup:
Edwards Jr; Floriani, Romney, Munie; Jones, Harkes, Leroux, Costa; Espinoza, Munoz, Martinez
We say: Los Angeles Galaxy 2-1 San Jose Earthquakes
San Jose Earthquakes were unlucky not to have grabbed all three points against Houston last time out and will be backing themselves to bounce back against a Los Angeles Galaxy side who are yet to find their feet this season. However, we predict that Vanney's men will make the most of their home advantage and come away with a narrow victory.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
