San Jose Earthquakes Vs Los Angeles FC
San Jose Earthquakes Vs Los Angeles FC Monday 9 August, 2021 – 00:00 (BST)
US Major League Soccer
Pick: Over 2.5 Goals & Both Teams to Score
Odds: 8/11
Bookmaker: Bet365
(All betting odds correct at time of writing: 7 July 2021)
Preview: Without a win in their last four MLS games, can Los Angeles FC secure what they will feel is a victory that is long overdue when they visit a San Jose Earthquakes team enjoying their longest unbeaten run in more than two years.
US Major League Soccer Betting at Betfair
Table of Contents
San Jose Earthquakes – Three points still proving scarce?
For regular Major League Soccer followers, they will know all too well that San Jose and drawing matches has become a regular occurrence lately. Five of their last six have now ended without a winner, while four produced the same 1-1 scoreline. The latest coming in Portland against the Timbers last time out on Wednesday, as the Earthquakes scored first but failed to win for the fifth time this season.
That result extended San Jose’s run without losing to six (W1 D5). It also means they have earned four points from recent trips to Seattle Sounders, who for a long time this season were unbeatable, and a Portland Timbers side which had won four of its last five on home soil. If those are the positives to be gleaned, just one win in the last thirteen MLS encounters (D6 L6) is undoubtedly a negative.
A return home to Paypal Park, California, isn’t necessarily a prospect to be enthralled about either. In 2021 so far, San Jose Earthquakes have won only two of seven home fixtures and none of the previous five (D2 L3) since back-to-back successes against FC Dallas and DC United in the early part of May. Yet good news is on the way in the shape of Jeremy Ebobisse, who has completed his move from Portland this week.
Los Angeles FC – Bradley struggling to stem flow of goals?
If San Jose and drawing matches has become synonymous, then so too has Los Angeles FC and conceding goals. Or perhaps it should be not winning at home. It could even be not winning at all. Wednesday’s 4-1 defeat to Sporting Kansas was their fourth straight MLS game without winning, the last three in front of a home crowd in Cali, in a run that has seen them breached no fewer than ten times.
These are undoubtedly troubling times for Bob Bradley, the LAFC coach who has gone from lauding his team three weeks earlier, when recording three consecutive victories to close on the top two in the Western Conference, to lamenting a second four match winless sequence of 2021. And the fingers will be pointed straight at those whose job it is to prevent the other team from scoring.
LAFC have now shipped at least two goals in their last four MLS games, and at least once the last five with both teams on target in all. It has rendered the recent exploits of Carlos Vela, the former MLS MVP and Golden Boot winner who has found the net in four of his last five starts, close to meaningless. Though without him, recent 2-2 draws with Vancouver and Minnesota might have been a whole lot worse.
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San Jose Earthquakes Vs Los Angeles FC Betting Advice
Neither are inspiring much confidence at the moment. San Jose Earthquakes will at least take heart from their current six-match unbeaten run, but it is still one win in thirteen having not won any of their last five at home. Meanwhile, Bob Bradley’s Los Angeles FC arrive at PayPal Park winless in four and in hapless form defensively, but are considered the best team in the division based on Expected Goals.
San Jose Earthquakes Vs Los Angeles FC – Key Facts:
- All of the first five MLS meetings were won by Los Angeles FC. However, each of the previous two went the way of the San Jose Earthquakes.
- This fixture has been blessed with ample goals, with an average of 4.7 across all seven MLS meetings. Meanwhile both teams scored in five, including the last three.
- San Jose netted the game’s opening goal in five of their last six MLS matches, while LAFC conceded first in three of their current four-game winless run.
It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to back the draw as none of the seven previous MLS meetings went that way. It is, however, a fixture which tends to deliver an abundance of goals. Six of those seven head-to-heads produced three or more goals, while four saw at least five. All but one of San Jose’s past seven games featured both teams scoring, as have the last five of LAFC. So this has the makings of another epic.
Best Betting Odds – San Jose Earthquakes Vs Los Angeles FC
San Jose Earthquakes – 29/10 (Betfair)
Draw – 3/1 (BetFred)
Los Angeles FC – 17/20 (Betway)
