The San Jose Earthquakes ended the month of March on a sour note in a 3-1 Cali Classico loss to the LA Galaxy. That match was the only blemish on their record so far. With a 1-0 win against the Colorado Rapids and a 2-1 win against Portland Timbers, the Earthquakes sit in 5th, tied with LA and the Vancouver Whitecaps on points. The Earthquakes will look to stake their claim as a playoff contender as they take on one of their toughest stretches of the season. They’ll play six games in April with three on the road and three at home. All of their April matches face opposition who made the postseason last year with exception to the last game against Philadelphia. Here’s a quick preview of the Earthquakes April slate of matches.
San Jose Earthquakes April Preview
4/2 vs. D.C. United
D.C. United will make their second west coast trip of the season. They haven’t been playing well at all, giving up 8 goals in their 4 matches, losing by three to both the Galaxy and FC Dallas, and have only had draws against the New England Revolution and Colorado. D.C. United’s biggest weakness is the midfield, especially when they play with Luciano Acosta on the bench. With the Earthquake’s losing Anibal Godoy to injury, you can expect to see both Fatai Alashe and Matias Perez Garcia out there in the Starting XI. Add on Simon Dawkins’ suspension, and you have Shea Salinas starting at left wing. I don’t really see this game as a massive test for San Jose, just as D.C. have yet to show signs of life this season. I won’t say a comfortable win, but the Earthquakes should be able to win this match.
4/9 at FC Dallas
In arguably the biggest test of the season, the Earthquakes will go into Dallas to avenge their season-ending loss in 2015. Dallas, a major power in the Western Conference and an MLS Cup favorite this season have started out pretty strong, minus a shocking derby loss to Houston Dynamo. They handled D.C. easily last week and they look to be back on track. Any club coached by Oscar Pareja is going to be a smart, well-disciplined attacking team. The Quakes should look to play on the counter-attack and hope their defense can withstand the high pressure from Dallas. If San Jose can walk out of Dallas with a draw it would be a great result for the Earthquakes. With a mid-week matchup against Supporter’s Shield holders New York Red Bull, it would be great if they could also finish the match with 11 men on the field. In the last 12 clashes between San Jose and Dallas, there have been TEN red cards issued, including two matches where it finished 9v10. In recent history, this game has been nasty, and honestly it’s really hard to see it not getting that way this time around.
4/13 vs New York Red Bulls
After going through Dallas in what is sure to be a meat-grinder of a game, the Earthquakes have a short home turnaround against last season’s Supporters Shield Winners. RBNY will still have their same approach as always, apply a high press and have quick direct attacking play. The Earthquakes got burnt by that last season, and there is a decent chance they do again. Sometimes San Jose has troubles relieving the pressure an opponent puts on them, and that could prove costly in this match. If Red Bull are still struggling to get results leading up to this match, I think San Jose may be able to win this one. Godoy was not an Earthquake last season when these two played. Godoy singlehandedly changes this team and if he can play in this one, I think the Earthquakes have a good shot.
4/16 at Portland Timbers
A game on turf, in Portland, potentially in the rain, is a tough ask for every club in MLS. With the hostile atmosphere at Providence fueled by the unexplainable Timber fan hatred toward the Quakes will prove to be a big factor, as always. However, Portland has had issues finishing their chances. Not only do they have finishing issues, the Earthquakes were able to limit the amount of quality chances Portland had in their early season matchup. Expect the Earthquakes to play a similar game to the one they played on March 13. Chances are they don’t come out with three points after enduring a tough three games in seven days stretch. A draw would be quite the favorable result here.
4/24 vs. Sporting KC
After a very difficult one week stretch, the Earthquakes will have 8 days to recover and prepare for their first meeting vs. Sporting Kansas City this season. Last season they played in KC in week two, as San Jose was really trying to figure out how they would play. In their final two meetings, San Jose outscored them 6-0, and probably should’ve won the last matchup more than 1-0. They had an effective plan on how to take away everyone else, leaving Dom Dwyer to do all the work on his own. Unfortunately for SKC, he wasn’t able to do everything and the Earthquakes were absolutely clinical on the counter. The 5-0 in KC last August was the worst home loss in the history of the Kansas City franchise. San Jose will look to do more of the same in this matchup. SKC are much improved this year, and are undefeated without Benny Fielhaber in the lineup. KC will be a tough test this year, but I do think if they are healthy, the Earthquakes will be able to compete in this match. Because it is at Avaya, I’ll give San Jose the victory in this one 2-1.
4/30 at Philadelphia Union
Philadelphia is much improved this year, although in their only true test they lost at Dallas 2-0. The Columbus Crew have started out slowly, and the Union took advantage of that in week two winning 2-1. Chris Pontius has regained goalscoring form and C.J. Sapong has started impressively as well. San Jose will finish off a tough April by traveling to the east coast, where the Earthquakes haven’t done well, going 1-7-1 on the road in the East Coast in 2014 and 2015. If the Earthquakes are healthy in the run-up to the match, there is a good chance they could go and get a result and avoid repeating history. A draw would be an acceptable result if this team wasn’t pushing hard for playoffs. A win here could propel the Quakes into May on a high note so I say they get all three points if they are healthy going into this matchup.
Ideal Record for April: 3-1-2
Main Photo: Victor Decolongon, Getty Images
